"STATE OF PLAY" DVD Review by Kevin Carr

"STATE OF PLAY"
DVD Review
by Kevin Carr


	MOVIE: * (out of 5 stars) DVD EXPERIENCE: (out of 5 stars) STARRING John Simm as CAL MCCAFFREY David Morrissey as STEPHEN COLLINS Kelly Macdonald as DELLA SMITH Bill Nighy as CAMERON FOSTER Polly Walker as ANNE COLLINS James McAvoy as DAN FOSTER Not Rated Available on DVD Official BBC America Shop site Studio: Warner Bros. Back to DVD Review Home

WHAT IT’S ABOUT
The inspiration for the 2009 theatrical release "State of Play" starring Russell Crowe and Ben Affleck, this 2003 six-part BBC miniseries tells a story of political corruption, murder and the world of journalism. Stephen Collins (David Morrissey) is a Member of Parliament whose assistant is killed by a train. Soon, it comes out that Collins was having an affair with her. London journalist Cal McCaffrey (John Simm), who has a spotty history with Collins, uses his connections to help develop the story for his paper. However, as Cal digs deeper into the story with his team, he uncovers some deeper mysteries and bigger ramifications.

WHAT I LIKED
While I’m not a political junkie, I do enjoy a decent political thriller. As the foundation of the new theatrical feature, “State of Play” is a hard-hitting experience revealing the inner-workings of British politics and journalism.

With six hours of television programming to fill, “State of Play” manages to have plenty of twists and turns in the story to keep each episode interesting. Even if you don’t know the full workings of British politics, you can catch on with this miniseries (although it might not be a bad idea to have Wikipedia handy, or you might not catch immediately the meaning of certain slang, like “MP” standing for “Member of Parliament”).

“State of Play” is a very well constructed and well paced miniseries. It has a strong dramatic flow, and the acting is quite good. Like American television, the British screen actors like Bill Nighy and Kelly Macdonald are very comfortable on the small screen and bring a distinct level of quality to the picture.

I particularly enjoyed watching the depiction of a major newspaper in England, which seems to pass out a lot of money to loosen lips. I can’t speak to the accuracy of how politics and papers work in Britain, but the show did appear relatively educational on that front.

WHAT I DIDN’T LIKE
Watching “State of Play” the miniseries after seeing the American motion picture is like reading a book after seeing a relatively faithful adaptation. There are plenty of differences, and the original source has deeper character relationships and takes more time to develop. However, it’s hard to be completely sucked in because you already know what happens in the end.

While the key points to the stories are the same, there are plenty of differences. However, knowing the main twists and turns makes the story play out with a more mundane nature than if you watched the miniseries with no knowledge of the original film.

I wish I had seen the miniseries first, instead of the other way around, simply because it would have been easier to sit through a two-hour movie leading to the same conclusion rather than sitting through six hours of television.

Still, this shouldn’t discourage viewing the original BBC “State of Play.” In fact, check it out first before seeing the American motion picture. I imagine you’ll like them both better that way.

DVD FEATURES
The two-disc set includes commentary on episode one with writer Paul Abbott and director David Yates. Yates then joins producer Hilary Bevan Jones and editor Mark Day for an episode six commentary as well.

WHO’S GOING TO LIKE THIS MOVIE
Political junkies and newspaper buffs.