State of Play
Short description
A Washington, D.C. newspaper reporter, Cal McAffrey, is drawn into a murder investigation when a young woman on the staff of a rising congressman is found dead. The congressman, Stephen Collins, is an old friend of the journalist and a man talked about as a future presidential candidate. As McAffrey pursues the case with a younger colleague, Della Frye, the killing proves to be part of something larger than a single crime, reaching into politics and big business.
Kevin Macdonald directed the film, the third of the thirteen features he has made, following The Last King of Scotland and preceding The Eagle. The screenplay was written by Tony Gilroy, Billy Ray and Matthew Michael Carnahan. Russell Crowe plays McAffrey, Ben Affleck plays Collins, and Rachel McAdams plays Della Frye, with Helen Mirren, Robin Wright and Jason Bateman among the supporting cast. Around sixty performers and more than two hundred crew members are credited.
Made for about sixty million dollars, the film took in roughly eighty-eight million worldwide. On IMDb it holds a rating of 7.1 from around 166,000 votes, while on TMDB it sits at 6.8 from a much smaller number of votes. A critics' rating of 7.2 from 212 reviews places it slightly above the audience score on IMDb.
What's left behind the scenes
- At the 95th minute, Russell Crowe's character is driving with his right arm unbandaged, and in the next scene in the theater, it is bandaged again.
- Russell Crowe showed the script to Ridley Scott before signing the contract, in order to decide with him whether or not he should star in the film.
- The hospital scenes at the end of the film were shot at the headquarters of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.
- The song "The Night That Paddy Murphy Dies" by Great Big Sea can be heard in the opening scenes of the film. Great Big Sea vocalist Alan Doyle and Russell Crowe are good friends.
- All scenes with Helen Mirren were filmed in 4 days.
- Brian De Palma, Martin Campbell, Ang Lee, Richard Linklater, and Jim Jarmusch were all considered as directors for 'The Great Game'.
- The film was intended to reunite the lead actors of 'Fight Club' (1999), Edward Norton and Brad Pitt. However, Pitt left the project due to the writers' strike and was replaced by Russell Crowe. Pitt's departure delayed the start of filming, making Edward Norton's participation impossible as work began on the film 'Suckers' (2009). Ben Affleck took Norton's place.
- On the wall in McAffee's office, you can see a photograph of real Washington Post reporters Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein, who played a key role in covering the famous Watergate scandal.
- After Pitt left and before Russell Crowe joined the project, Johnny Depp, Nicolas Cage, and Tom Hanks were considered for the role of Cal McAffrey.
- In the early stages of development, Edward Zwick was attached as the film's director.
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