1) The Atlanta Film Festival continues at Landmark Midtown Art Cinema with Beeswax, White Wedding and more.
2) Gwen Ifill reads and discusses The Breakthrough: Politics and Race in the Age of Obama at Agnes Scott.
3) State of Play continues in area theaters.
NEWSPAPER DEATHWATCH: Cal McAffrey (Russell Crowe) questions U.S. Congressman Stephen Collins (Ben Affleck).
The political thriller State of Play finds a fresh angle on the depth of Russell Crowe’s talents as an actor. Slovenly but uncompromising journalist Cal MacAffrey may not be as memorable a Crowe role as the brooding gladiator or unstrung mathematician, but it reveals how an actor can subsume personal feelings in pursuit of a truthful, fleshed-out character.
“Russell had such contempt for the press to begin with. He hates reporters,” State of Play director Kevin Macdonald told the New York Times. Despite Crowe’s animosity toward the fourth estate, he makes Cal a tarnished but dedicated upholder of journalistic integrity, even as an explosive scoop puts his relationships at risk. Crowe anchors an engrossing film that offers a timely tribute to print newspapers during their possible twilight.
A veteran newshound at the Washington Globe (a thinly disguised Washington Post), Cal happens to be longtime friends with young Congressman Stephen Collins (Ben Affleck). Stephen makes headlines when his office’s comely young researcher dies in front of a subway. When the lawmaker tears up at a televised committee hearing, the instant news cycle on cable and the Internet immediately buzzes with lascivious speculation.
Continue reading “State of Play’s thrills put reporters above the fold”
(Photo courtesy Glen Wilson/© 2009 Universal Studios)
