State of Play

Despite looking shopworn, over weight and rather slobby,Russell Crowe gives his performance as Washington hack Cal McCaffrey in State of Play , a sense of purpose and a definite lightness of touch. Crowe clearly has moved from action leading man to character actor, but the irresistible twinkle of the eyes still flicker from time to time in this intelligent and well crafted political thriller, so much so that I almost forgave him his worst hair cut in recent film history.
The rest of the cast support Crowe ably. Helen Mirren turns up, and swears a lot in a Prime Suspect-ish way, Robin Wright Penn has an effective but all too short role as a wronged congressman's wife and relative newcomer Rachel McAdams balances Crowe's authority and confidence as a newbie journalist blogger.
I gave the whole thing an enjoyable 8/10