State of Play
Great? No, but clever enough and reasonably engaging; also, it’s one of those rare movies set in Washington that actually looks something like D.C.
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Great? No, but clever enough and reasonably engaging; also, it’s one of those rare movies set in Washington that actually looks something like D.C.
Commenting is closed for this article.
“But its dramatization of the complexities of journalistic ethics and business in a changing media environment is more nuanced than anything prior, including the fifth, journalism-based season of HBO’s The Wire.”
I’m wondering how this is true. The Wire focused on 1. the corruption of individual journalists and the failures of the editorial process, 2. the sad reality that even a mediocre newspaper with dedicated journalists misses the big stories (Marlo’s offing of Prop Joe), and, 3. with cutbacks this will happen more frequently, therefore cutbacks are bad. It seemed to do all this with nuance. Ethics were frequently discussed. The changing media environment and the business side of things was also addressed.
State of Play seemed to focus on the danger of newspapers being owned by people with big corporate ties. Maybe this is a real danger. I’m not disagreeing with that. And State of Play does show this with some nuance. It also gives us some one liners about how bad blogs are. But… to say, hands down, that State of Play’s “dramatization of the complexities of journalistic ethics and business in a changing media environment” is more nuanced seems false. It’s focus is somewhat different, sure. But, certainly not less nuanced.
I found The Wire to be much more realistic and thought-provoking than the glorified Russel Crowe figure who swoops in with the big story to save the newspaper, something that the bloggers would never be able to do. That seems false and unrealistic. I agree with both The Wire and State of Play that seasoned, well-connected reporters are very important, but I don’t think State of Play was more nuanced in its treatment of the current state of newspapers regarding ethics and business.
— lfen · Apr 20, 10:24 PM · #
This movie looks great. Though I haven’t gone to see it yet, if it’s even half as good as the UK mini-series, audiences should be flocking to it. I mean Russell Crowe almost always delivers. The TV trailer shows Crowe looking commanding as always, and now that I see him in action, I can live with Ben Affleck playing this role. Also, it features a great song, “Unstoppable” by Minutes Til Midnight that does a great job of setting the mood. Anyway, I’m way excited for this film – it looks to be the last of a dying breed, the high-budget, adult drama/thriller.
Check out the tv trailer here: http://displacedbrett.wordpress.com/2009/04/21/state-of-play/
— brett · Apr 24, 09:59 PM · #