So State of Play is a movie, a remake from State Of Play, a miniseries (6 episodes of 1 hour) that aired in 2003 on the BBC (UK). As the movie is a remake, I will state the differences and why this movie is so bad, compared with the original. Main reason : the cast. Here, in the movie,you have Russel Crowe (playing Cal MacCaffrey - established journalist), big movie star with long hair that could be an add for a shampoo as a reviewer already said. You also have Ben Affleck (Stephen Collins), Cutie actor who is as credible as a politician as a tomato trying to look like a green bean. Another Cutie as a woman this time (playing Della Frye, a newbie journalist), the "Girl who has no use in the movie but looks good and that's enough". And the only good actress with an interesting role plays the Editor. And that's all. The whole movie rests on 4 actors. In the BBC miniseries, between the great John Simm (MacCaffrey, has played the Master on DrWho), David Morissey (Stephen Collins, playing in The Walking Dead), James Mc Avoy, Bill Nighy, Kelly McDonald (Della an accomplished journalist, see the difference with the movie?, now playing in the Boardwalk Empire), Polly Walker and so on... See what I mean ? The miniseries is an ensemble cast series, and that's what makes its greatness. As for dummy things in the movie : at the end, Russel Crowe (scuse me, Cal MacCaffrey) sits at his desk and writes his 10 pages article in two hours. I didn't know being a journalist was so easy ! In comparison, in the miniseries, Cal Mac Caffrey (John Simm) changes only the title of his article ... The movie was all about Russel and his hair, Ben and his good look, The Girl and her I don't know what. The miniseries was all about the characters and their depth, the well crafted story, the authenticity of its not world known actresses and actors... I know what I prefer.

I've never been keen on political matters and many of the things that were said in this series made absolutely no sense to me. Some of them i got, others were just gibberish. But that was such a minor detail compared to the beautifully written script by Paul Abbott and the great performances of the leading and supporting actors.Now, what's really interesting is the scenario. Beyond politics, yet always involved with. Three murders that, at first, seemed unrelated are leading a politician's personal life in distress. Once the press gets its hands on too, things can only be worse or right.Quick, funny, rich and strong conversations, i really enjoyed the filming locations in London. It gave the story an appropriate atmosphere for a mystery case. I thought David Morissey's acting was fantastic and with John Simm they played in an amazing theatrical way. Bill Nighy is a catch-phrase man -again- always classy and we also see some of the first steps of James McAvoy, another great actor.If you're a fan of -such genre- British television shows, i think you're going to like it. If you're experimenting, you may try it.

First two episodes were excellent. Pacey, dramatic, great interaction between journalism, politics and police investigation. What happened in episodes 3,4,5 ? The Police and their ongoing investigation were dropped from the show. The affair between the politician's wife and the journalist took up (seemingly) hours of time. You never learned anything about any of the characters inner life or emotional state. And the most ludicrous character Dominic Foy wasted everybody's time with a pathetic accent, overacting and irrational behaviour. This should have been an excellent 3 or 4 part series, not 6. Episode 6 was too talky and unrealistic. The only saving grace of the final part was the excellent comedy turn of Bill Nighy. Even then, none of the behaviour rang true of real life journalists, politicians or police.And then there's the way it was shot. If you want to know why the latest Harry Potter movies are not very good, look at the uninventive directing of David Yates in State of Play. No idea how to frame a widescreen frame. No idea how to edit for drama, action, tension or speech. The only idea for edginess seemed to be using a hand-held camera with resulting shaky-cam effect.*SPOILERS*And in the end, the political games turned out to be weak, the oil company revelations were less than sinister, the politician's wife had no impact on the outcome and the big revelation was inconsistent with the two big plot turns at the beginning. 1. Who changed and classified the autopsy report ? 2. Why did the police recklessly shoot dead the assassin ?Watch The Wire for comparison of a better TV series, better drama, more real characters, better writing, better directing, better editing.Watch All the President's Men for filming in an open plan newspaper office. Watch Parallax View for journalism, company and political tension.David Yates is no Alan J Pakula.

It is not often that really good series based on politics, suspense and a bit of romance + comedy hit our idiot boxes. However, State of Play manages to do all this with such finesse that I was left spellbound. What starts of as a simple murder case becomes so huge that it really boggles the mind. And at all time, it does not seem one bit over-stretched or silly. Add to this three subplots and what you have is a series that is of immense viewing pleasure. All in a runtime of just 300 minutes.If you want your TV series to be intelligent, do yourself a favour and watch this series. Now.