I have to admit that I'll see pretty much any movie starring Ben Affleck, with the exception of Gigli, because I couldn't bear to see him with J. Lo. His performance is erratic - he sometimes wins big (The Sum of All Fears, Good Will Hunting, and Chasing Amy) but often really misses (Gigli again of course, Reindeer Games, and Surviving Christmas).
On Saturday night, we escaped the nightmare of de-cluttering by heading to the movies. I had no trouble convincing Steve to see State of Play as it seemed like a typical thriller "guy" movie. In addition to Ben Affleck, State of Play stars Russell Crowe and Rachel McAdams.
Crowe is a hardened reporter who tosses back bags of Cheetos in one big bite. He must have put on at least 30 pounds to play this role. His hair is long and wild and swings along with his gut as he races to track down leads in his story. McAdams is a cute political blogger on staff for the Washington Globe. The two team up to investigate a sex scandal and murder investigation involving a young idealistic senator played by Affleck.
The developing plot did not sustain Steve's interest enough to overcome a day of hard work and his head was soon nodding next to mine. I tried to shake him awake a few times before giving up and getting fully sucked into the movie. Russell Crowe was very convincing as a seasoned reporter and I got kick out of his snide comment to McAdams about her blogging. Affleck was perfectly cast as a squeaky clean politician.
Although the movie focuses on Capital Hill politics, there is plenty of action too. I found myself hiding my eyes and gripping oblivious Steve's arm more than once. My only complaint about the movie is that the twist at the end is weak. I won't say any more than that to not ruin it, but the ending downgraded the movie to a B for me.
CHEFDRUCK GRADE: B Entertaining political thriller.
1 comments:
Actually, Russell did not gain weight for this role. He was half-way DOWN from the almost 60 pounds he'd gained to play Ed Hoffman in Body of Lies, which is why he's still 30 pounds overweight in SOP. And that's not even his hair, but a wig to cover his real hair which he was growing out to be Robin Hood and which was, during the filming of SOP, much longer than that. I'm glad he's chopped it all off now, tho, and has gone back to the Maximus hairdo and weight for Robin. Glad you enjoyed the movie.
Jo
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