"State of Play" (Blu-ray) - Reviewed by John Johnson

Synopsis

Reporter for the Washington Globe, Cal McAffrey (Crowe), investigates the death of a young woman, Sonia Baker (Maria Thayer), who worked as an aid for Senator Stephen Collins (Affleck). Sonia's death is labeled as a suicide, but Cal is suspicious that it may have been murder.

Senator Collins is involved in a controversy over the Defense Department outsourcing procedures, and Cal suspects that the senator may be responsible for her death.

Cal enlists the help of a newly hired reporter, Della Frye (McAdams), while the Editor, Cameron Lynne (Mirren) thinks that a more seasoned reporter should be working on such an important story with Cal.

They uncover a sex scandal and misuse of funds (hundreds of millions of dollars), and of course, there are those in high places who will do anything to keep the truth from being published.

Commentary

The film is based on a British TV mini-series, and although it is an interesting story, I think they have condensed too much into the slightly longer than 2 hours of movie play time.

Technical

The image is not very sharp, and there could have been more use of the surrounds.

Extras

These include Deleted Scenes, The Making Of, and BD Live.