Apr 09 2009
Rent It: State of Play
Netflix It
No, I’m not talking about that Russell Crowe movie you’ve seen the ads for recently. You’ll have to wait a few more more months before you can watch that in the comfort of your home. Before you check out the big star-studded Hollywood remake set to hit theaters a week from Friday, I suggest you carve out six hours from a lazy weekend and check out the BBC miniseries it’s based on. Directed by David Yates, the man who’s taken on the Harry Potter film franchise since Order of the Phoenix, and starring some of sentimental favorite British actors (Kelly Macdonald, James McAvoy and Bill Nighy in one of the best roles I’ve ever seen him in), this series is definitely worth the time.
The series opens with two seemingly independent deaths. The first the gunning down of a young black man that immediately attributed to drugs by the authorities, but as the plot unravels, this is far from the case. The second is the apparent suicide by stepping in front of a train of a young woman that works of a rising star politician, Stephen Collins (David Morrissey). Turns out the two were also having an affair and in the media frenzy over death, this comes out. Collins’s former campaign manager, Cal McCaffrey (John Simm) works at a local newspaper and the miniseries follows the quest of him and his colleagues to uncover the truth behind those deaths. What follows is a riveting thriller that I was pleasantly surprised by on more than one occassion. What I was really pleased with, though, was that after seeing this, it occured to me how long it’s been since I’ve seen a really good movie about the act and process of journalism. This definitely fills that gap.
If State of Play were total crap (and it’s not) it would be worth your time, alone, for the performances of Bill Nighy and, to a slightly lesser degree, David Morrissey. I’ve been a fan of Nighy’s since Still Crazy, but this role really shows his versatility. He’s still shows that great wit of his, but as the editor of the newspaper, he’s also required to be quite a straight man. While I think the series will make a smooth transition into film, as there’s a lot elements not central to the main plot that could easily be trimmed down, I worry that many of the endearing qualities of Nighy’s character will be left out. His role is being played by Helen Mirren the feature film and based on what I’ve seen in the trailer, her version of the part seems to be a bit humorless in comparison, which is unfortunate. I’m certain they’ll removing a plot thread that involved Nighy’s freelance reporter son (James McAvoy) from working his way onto the investigative team, a reveal that is delightfully amusing, if slighty predictable. McAvoy’s character, along with all but two of the 5-person reporter team, have been eliminated from the feature version of the film. The movie can certainly still be great without some of that stuff, but I will miss it.
While Simm’s Cal is the main character of the piece, Morrissey’s Stephen Collins is the meatiest role in the entire series and he truly rises to the occassion. I can’t wait to see what Ben Affleck does with this part because it seems right up his alley and I really think he could surprise some of the naysayers. Morrissey hasn’t had any huge breakout roles in the States and it’s too bad, he’s clearly very talented and it’s sad that here he’s reduced to tripe like Basic Instinct 2. I’ll keep my fingers crossed that someday he’ll get his due.
I hope you’ll check it out and keeping my hopes up the American remake will be just as good, with the talent they’ve got behind it, there’s no earthly reason why it shouldn’t be spectacular.
[...] Maria Thayer and Doubt’s Oscar-nominated Viola Davis. To top it all off, the film is based on a very good BBC miniseries. I think it should go without saying that I had pretty high expectations going into this film. [...]