Movie Review: State of Play Blu-ray

State of Play stars Russell Crowe and Ben Affleck in a last minute surprise ending drama that follows the political turmoil of a young up and coming politician who uses force to get what he wants.

Film making 20/25
Video 21/25
Audio 20/25
Bonus Features 12/25
Total 73/100

State of Play follows the embroiled political scene of young congressman Stephen Collins, played be Ben Affleck, who is having an affair with his aid. When news of his aides death while conducting a hearing for a committee of congress strikes an emotional response the media pounces on Senator Collins.

Long time friend of both Collins and his wife reporter Cal McAffrey needs to find out for himself what is going on and find out just who he is going to believe. When the death ends up being a murder and not the apparent suicide it started out as Cal and young blogger and hopeful reporter Della Frye, played by Rachel McAdams, dig to uncover the truth.

The truth is more than a simple political scandal and ends up being one of those cover ups that will not only end careers but wind up with several people in prison. State of Play is a great political thriller that is not too hard to follow and enjoyable with some great acting.

Russell Crowe gives a great performance and Rachel McAdams plays the hopeful reporter stuck at blogging very well for a great acting job. The film has some very good performances with Ben Affleck as the know it all congressman who thinks he has everything under control.

The film does a great job of keeping the action well balanced with the drama for a great overall job at keeping things moving and smart. State of Play is well worth a purchase with a few good extras and very good video and audio for the Blu-ray edition.

Video is great with only a slight down grade due to some softness here and there but I think this may be due to director's choice and not technical problems with the transfer. The video is great throughout the film and transfer to Blu-ray is almost flawless with some great images in shots.

Some striking scenes like the newspaper rooms with their cubicles filled to the brim with clippings and notes pasted haphazardly on walls clashes with the pristine offices and chambers of congress. The flesh tones are great and colors are superb with an attention to dark shadows that makes the film look very appealing and well done.

The video looks great and audio is also well done with DTS-HD Master Audio that carries all the conversation to you well so you can hear every spoken word clearly. The film relies heavily on the conversations so you better pay attention which is easy to do with the clear quality of the audio.

The extras on the Blu-ray release include a making of feature that's about 20 minutes of taking the BBC original miniseries to film and a well deserved Picture in Picture track. The making of feature is nice and includes enough information to move along with the picture in picture track while watching the film to fill in gaps.

The Picture in Picture does well but it skips around a bit with not only some commentary about the film and the miniseries but other things that make it somewhat boring at times but not too often. Overall the extra track is worth a look for a more in depth view of the film, cast, crew and production for a good addition.

The extras are worthwhile and add to the film as well as giving a bit of back history to the film and the BBC version for a well done addition if you're interested. State of Play may not be everyone's cup of tea but it is well worth a viewing and I feel a worthwhile purchase, after all, who doesn't like Russell Crowe as the good guy.