Tagline: Good reporters don’t have friends, only sources.
In the chess match of Beltway politics, there is constant maneuvering between two worthy teams: politicians who seek to retain their positions of influence and journalists out to uncover corruption that accompanies unchecked power. What binds the opponents is their need for each other. And assassination—whether of a character or a life—is sometimes a means to their endgame.
Oscar winner Russell Crowe (Gladiator, American Gangster) leads an all-star cast in a blistering thriller about a rising congressman and an investigative journalist embroiled in a case of seemingly unrelated homicides. Crowe plays Cal McAffrey, a veteran D.C. reporter whose unyielding determination leads him to untangle a mystery of murder and collusion among some of the nation’s most promising political and corporate figures in State of Play, from Kevin MacDonald (One Day in September, The Last King of Scotland).
Ambitious, unflappable U.S. Congressman Stephen Collins (Oscar winner Ben Affleck, Hollywoodland, Gone Baby Gone) is the future of his political party: an honorable appointee who serves as the chairman of a committee overseeing defense spending. High hopes are pinned to this rising star to become a leading national figure—until his beautiful young staff assistant dies tragically and buried secrets come tumbling out.
McAffrey has the dubious fortune of having both an old friendship with Collins and a tough-asnails editor, Cameron Lynne (Oscar winner Helen Mirren, The Queen, Gosford Park), who has assigned him to investigate the story. As he and novice partner Della Frye (Rachel McAdams, The Notebook, Red Eye) try to uncover the killer’s identity, McAffrey steps into a cover-up that threatens to shake the nation’s power structures. In a town of spin doctors and wealthy politicos, he will discover one truth: When billions are at stake, no one’s integrity, love or life is beyond question.
Joining the lead cast is an accomplished team of performers including Robin Wright Penn (Beowulf; New York, I Love You) as Stephen Collins’ loyal wife, Anne; Jason Bateman (Hancock, The Kingdom) as manipulative public relations executive Dominic Foy; and Jeff Daniels (Good Night, and Good Luck.; The Lookout) as George Fergus, a powerful senator with the reputation of his party on the line.
Read the Full Production Notes
State of Play
Starring: Russell Crowe, Ben Affleck, Rachel McAdams, Jason Bateman, Robin Wright-Penn, Helen Mirren
Directed by: Kevin Macdonald
Screenplay by: Matthew Michael Carnahan
Release Date: April 17th, 2009
MPAA Rating: PG-13 for language.
Studio: Touchstone Pictures
Box Office Totals
Domestic: $36,797,000 (66.4%)
Foreign: $18,648,887 (33.6%)
Total: $55,445,887 (Worldwide)