State of Play: Comparing Bloggers to Bloodsuckers
The new film starring Russell Crowe and Ben Affleck mocks online journalism.
State of Play is a fractured love letter to a dying newspaper industry, Hollywood’s newest assault on Blackwater, and, as if it were needed, more proof that Ben Affleck can’t act.
The film, based on a BBC miniseries, follows a print scribe throwback named Cal (Russell Crowe) investigating a double shooting in D.C. The crime turns out to be connected to a much juicier story.
An aide to a popular congressman (Affleck) just committed suicide, and the congressman’s teary public appearance to announce her death tips off the press that he was having an affair with her.
Could that affair be tied to the congressman’s investigation of a Blackwater-style outfit?
Turns out Cal and the congressman are old pals — college roommates to be precise. Normally, that would mean a major conflict of interest should Cal decide to report on the story. But that’s just one of the logical chasms in this very tall but rigorously entertaining tale.
Cal is forced to cover the unfolding story with his paper’s blog reporter (Rachel McAdams). He’s old school. She’s cutting edge … except she doesn’t really behave like any blogger you’ve ever met. McAdams exists to squeeze a pretty face onto the movie poster and mock online journalism.
A more relevant movie would have shown the power of the blogosphere, letting McAdams release the story to the public post by post. Instead, State of Play only introduces bloggers so it can compare them to bloodsuckers.
Yes, the film is just as protective of the newspaper industry as every other editor who clings to the way things have always been done for decades. But give it points for up-to-the-moment relevancy. Too bad the film couldn’t throw in a tea-bagging gag.
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Christian Toto is a freelance writer and film critic for The Washington Times. His work has appeared in People magazine, MovieMaker Magazine, The Denver Post, The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, and Scripps Howard News Service. He also contributes movie radio commentary to three stations as well as the nationally syndicated Dennis Miller Show and runs the blog What Would Toto Watch?
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32 Comments
1. Delia:Hey now. This is getting too personal. I only suck the blood of trolls on Wednesdays and Fridays. Sheesh!
-But, seriously, Christian Toto…what do you want from Liberal Hollyweird? Truth? Decency? Honor? Nobility? Compassion?
Oh sure, the latter [from the last few words of above paragraph] happens from time to time as long as it has a strictly liberal slant to it [preferably with anti-American overtones].
Take heart, kind soul that the internet is here for us freedom fighters. At least we have ‘this’…sooooooooooooooooooooo, let’s make the most of it eh? he-he
Apr 17, 2009 - 11:56 pm 2. Emma:Zzzzzzzzzzzzz
Apr 18, 2009 - 2:49 am 3. vivo:1. Delia:
” as long as it has a strictly liberal slant to it [preferably with anti-American overtones].”
Still can’t take national self-criticism?
21st century yet?
If it wasn’t for Hollywood, we’d be believing in Santa Claus . . . Among all the crap they produce, there are some brilliant pieces.
Apr 18, 2009 - 3:08 am 4. william Blake:“and, as if it were needed, more proof that Ben Affleck can’t act.”
I realized at that sentence that (in agreement with you about him) I would never finish this article or see the movie. None of these people are worthy of any attention!
Apr 18, 2009 - 5:01 am 5. RandyChandler:Could the irony be more obvious? Mainstream journalists are no longer real journalists. They are, as Rush rightly calls them, the “drive-by media.” The typical blogger of today has far more integrity than the average MSM Obamacrat. And irony upon irony, an actor playing a journalist has as much reporter cred as any newspaper/TV hack.
Apr 18, 2009 - 5:42 am 6. Bob:I wanted the major old media to disappear into history. Bye-bye, major old media. They had way too much influences and damages to the American psyche and the political landscape.
Apr 18, 2009 - 6:14 am 7. Oldguy:I am surprised that Russel Crowe doesn’t have more sense than to appear in any movie with Ben Affleck.
Apr 18, 2009 - 6:39 am 8. Anonymous:I can’t wait… to run out and see this Hollynut tribute to a prostitute media selling professional journalism’ soul. I swear it… I’m going to tear myself away from the wasteful surfing of online bloggers providing my main source for professional news.
Afffleckkk… and Crow, how appropriate… fouling the air waves even further.
Apr 18, 2009 - 6:44 am 9. The Blogshevik:There’s a scene in the movie showing Crowe beating the tar out of Afflect with a telephone….
Apr 18, 2009 - 7:19 am 10. Michael O'Brein:I’m sure they’re only mocking the online journalism that isn’t left-biased and controlled.
Hasn’t the left said that they won the election through use of internet and the online society, and that the right didn’t have a clue as to how to use the internet for politics?
So if online journalism is bad, then they have only themselves to blame.
Apr 18, 2009 - 7:45 am 11. TexEd:Thank you for your comments. It will not be necessary for me to actually buy a ticket to see the film. Thanks.
Apr 18, 2009 - 7:51 am 12. Sebastian Shaw:Aflec not an actor? Please, all you need to work in Hollywood is a well connected, left wing family member, a well paid public relations firm and a lawyer/agent who’ll market you. Aflec and many, many others in Southern California are marginal performers. Look at folks like Cruise, Roberts and that woman who looks like octomom.
I imagine to the media elite the bloggers are bloodsuckers, leeches, vampires, & other things that go bump in the night. The MSM has become the Ministry of Information from Orwell’s 1984; it’s up to the PEOPLE to take the information back from their liberal filter.
Apr 18, 2009 - 7:52 am 13. RandyChandler:I don’t care for Ben Affleck’s acting either but to be fair, he directed one of the best crime movies in recent years, GONE BABY GONE. Written by left-leaning novelist Dennis Lehane, the film nevertheless possessed a gritty realism not often seen in Hollywood flicks (even though the actual plot turned out to be farfetched). I don’t know how much directing Affleck actually did but he got director credit.
Apr 18, 2009 - 8:18 am 14. Delia:12. Sebastian Shaw
“it’s up to the PEOPLE to take the information back from their liberal filter”
~
Right on, Sebastian Shaw! ♥♥♥
Apr 18, 2009 - 8:57 am 15. Jeff Weimer:3. vivo:
…
Still can’t take national self-criticism? ….
Self-criticism is fine (necessary even), but when it becomes national self-flagellation, that’s another thing entirely.
Apr 18, 2009 - 9:06 am 16. ic:3. vivo:…
Still can’t take national self-criticism? ….
In Mao’s China, whenever you strayed from the party line, the right path, you were to write a report of self-criticism to atone your transgressions, otherwise you would be sent to a re-education camp.
Funny, you bring “self-criticism” up.
“If it wasn’t for Hollywood, we’d be believing in Santa Claus . . . ”
Poor Vivo, you actually acquire your “knowledge” from Hollywood.
Apr 18, 2009 - 1:01 pm 17. Stanley:The BBC TV series on which this movie was loosely based was brilliant. A must-see.
I suspect this American movie version is a must-miss!
Apr 18, 2009 - 3:16 pm 18. e:Excuse me! I do not suck blood. I sponge it from my plate with my bread.
The only redeeming factor that might show up is if Russel Crowe manages to form a likable character. Unfortuanatly his acting tends to be a little stiff in recent films so I don’t hold out much hope.
I could forgive a stupid message for a the movie if the rest was actually good (an extremely rare quality).
Apr 18, 2009 - 6:17 pm 19. Oakley:Who knew? Hollywood stuck in the 20th century? Wow, let them stay there, dead as a doornail.
Apr 18, 2009 - 6:55 pm 20. Christian Toto:Randy,
Good point on Gone Baby Gone. Affleck is a smart fellow even if you disagree with his politics. He’s likely a better fit behind the camera.
Apr 19, 2009 - 7:24 am 21. Cybergeezer:Easy to tell who isn’t making it on “Facebook”, “Twitter”, “Match.com”, “Please, Baby, Please.com”, etc.
Apr 19, 2009 - 5:47 pm 22. Cybergeezer:P.S. “Anything for you, baby.com”
Apr 19, 2009 - 5:58 pm 23. furious_a:Re: Affleck, halfway through Pearl Harbor I was rooting for the Japanese.
In fairness, Boiler Room and Good Will Hunting were well done.
Apr 20, 2009 - 7:58 am 24. joel:What I found most odd was that the highly successful Congressman and his wife turned to this silly reporter (long hair, scruffy, wifeless and childless, essentially broke and facing unemployment and drinking way too heavily) to ask for validation of their own life styles. Who is kidding whom?
That PR agent said it well. If he drove a Saab like Crowe, he’d blow it up with himself in it.
And, as a 3rd generation Irish-American, I was deeply offended by the Irish drinking song they played at the start of the movie. Imagine a good PC movie propagation the stereotype that the Irish drink too much.
http://www.wtv-zone.com/phyrst/audio/nfld/06/diedjb.htm
Apr 20, 2009 - 4:38 pm 25. Leatherneck:I saw the movie, and I also saw the slam on blogging. It’s Hollywood. They do not like the true truth getting out, plus newspapers, and the MSM are losing clients.
I have not ever been a big fan of Ben, but I thought he did a very good job in the movie. Russell sold out to Hollywood a long time ago, but he is what my wife believes is a dam fine actor. Whatever that means.
The movie is better than good, and the supporting actors do an excellent job. I do not know the older lady’s name in the movie who plays Russell’s boss, but she is such a TURN on.
Over.
Apr 20, 2009 - 5:51 pm 26. Mike:Another view:
No problem with the lame performance of Affleck et al. This is to be expected in todays hollywood. However, I think that the conflict between the professional reporter (long since dead) Crowe and the “industry” as portrayed by the “editor” is clasic. There are still a few good reporters out there, just not many. The net gal is a joke, but then one needs something to look at in a film. Ergo #5 Sundays.
Apr 20, 2009 - 5:55 pm 27. ic:24. joel:as a 3rd generation Irish-American, I was deeply offended by the Irish drinking song they played at the start of the movie
How about the melody to that song “The Star-Spangled Banner”?
The connection with Anacreon, along with the “drinking” nature of the lyrics, have caused many people to label The Anacreontic Song a drinking song.
http://www.answers.com/%E2%80%9CTo%20Anacreon%20in%20Heaven%E2%80%9D%20
Apr 20, 2009 - 9:31 pm 28. Emma:@ Vivo: ““If it wasn’t for Hollywood, we’d be believing in Santa Claus”
I guess you haven’t seen “Miracle on 34th Street.”
Apr 20, 2009 - 9:35 pm 29. vivo:28. Emma:
““If it wasn’t for Hollywood, we’d be believing in Santa Claus”
I guess you haven’t seen “Miracle on 34th Street.”
The concept of Santa Claus is fine. You didn’t get my drift. If it wasn’t for movies, people wouldn’t know lots and lots of things. Michael Moore is an example. You probably hate his stuff, but the realistic footage is more than revealing. Remember Bush at the school on 9/11? Tragic.
Apr 21, 2009 - 2:56 am 30. Sebastian Shaw:Vivo, Michael Moore is a terrible example.
Apr 21, 2009 - 2:15 pm 31. Roderick Reilly:I’m not going to see this movie, so I guess I’ll never figure out why there are so many British accents in Washington, DC officialdom.
As soon as I saw the D.C. setting, I decided not to see the movie. It seems that, in addition to Washington-based movies, every other new TV series is set or to be set in Washington. “24″ has moved from L.A. to D.C. even! Enough!
It’s obvious what is happening: Washington has become the center of the Ameican Universe like never before. A more accurate description is that it is a black hole swallowing up the American galaxy. Yes, you guessed it, I live and work at the new center of the world. Sigh.
Apr 21, 2009 - 3:22 pm 32. brett: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 (http://displacedbrett.wordpress.com/2009/04/21/state-of-play) 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.
Apr 24, 2009 - 2:59 pm