It doesn't. The film does grow a little tiresome, and though the final surprises are worth it, what happens in their aftermath hardly feels climactic. Still, State of Play offers a fun ride. It's been lavishly photographed by Rodrigo Prieto (cinematographer on such beautiful films as Babel and Brokeback Mountain), and the cast is almost unanimously fantastic. Crowe is at his strongest since 2005's Cinderella Man, and if Rachel McAdams can't quite bring herself to his level, she also doesn't do the movie any harm. Ben Affleck brings the perfect unassuming, all-American quality to the role of the scandalized congressman, and again proves that he's got more to offer than his detractors suggest. Jason Bateman, Jeff Daniels, Harry Lennix, and Viola Davis all give memorable supporting turns.
And if anything, it's a definite improvement over documentarian Macdonald's first narrative feature, The Last King of Scotland, which featured a terrific Idi Amin impersonation by Forest Whitaker but little else. Here, though, is a film with color, life, vigor, and for at least its first three-fourths, a snappy energy. If State of Play turns out to be the newspaper thriller's last gasp, it's a damn good one.
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