"State of Play"

A long haired Russel Crowe and the mere presence of Ben Affleck was almost enough to scare me away from Kevin Macdonald's "State of Play." I'm glad that I was able to gut out watching this movie b/c it was far better than I imagined.

"State of Play" is a crime thriller based on murder and D.C. politics. I won't get into the plot simply b/c there's too many twists and turns to wrap my head around. From the very onset, the movie grabs your attention. Don't look away, though, b/c you might just miss something very important. I would not put Play in the same category as a "Syriana", where the jargon alone leaves you wondering what in the world is going on. "State of Play" is much easier to follow, yet leaves you guessing at the movies end the entire time.

Russell Crowe was very good, Rachael MacAdams was a surprise casting but performed a successful supporting roll as an up and journalist. The big shocker of the film was Ben Affleck's performance...he was VERY good. I've never been a huge Ben Affleck fan, at least not when it came to acting (I think he's a much better director). But with his performance here, his role in "She's Just Not That Into You," and from what I hear about him in "Extract," 'ol Ben might be coming around. Or maybe he's just picking better scripts (though "Gigli" had Oscar written all over it; wonder what happened there).

If you're in the mood to try and solve a mystery, definitely check out "State of Play." It's worth a watch.

*I also failed to mention Jason Bateman's appearance in the film. This guy makes every movie better. He's honestly in my top 5 actors right now.