Movie producers and screenwriters find fodder for movies everywhere.   Beyond original ideas, they look to literature, history, graphic novels and comics and television.   Adapting an existing television show for the screen is a tough job, and it’s rarely done very well.   In the past, we’ve seen plenty of sitcoms expanded into films; they fall short because it is nearly impossible to maintain the energy of a 22-minute comedy over 90 minutes.   Television dramas have been brought to the big screen, but again, maintaining tension is much harder over a longer time period. But what if a miniseries — a critically acclaimed, wildly popular television miniseries — was condensed into a film?   Instead of drawing out energy and suspense, the writer would need to tighten the story and choose only the choicest sub-plots.   That’s the bit of genius behind Kevin MacDonald’s political thriller STATE OF PLAY. Broadcast on BBC One in 2003 and on BBC America in 2004, STATE OF PLAY was a six-episode series that topped the ratings in Great Britain.  The series featured compelling characters, brilliant dialog and a complex, exciting mystery to unravel.   Screenwriter Matthew Michael Carnahan adapted the teleplay for the big screen, and director Kevin MacDonald worked closely with Carnahan on script revisions.   Their end result is a film as suspenseful and tense as the original miniseries, but pared down to essentials.   The movie‘s setting is changed from London and Parliament to Washington, DC and Congress, but the main characters remained and the plot line followed the original very closely.   The film is paced quickly and evenly.   MacDonald expects his audience to pay attention.   If you do, there’s a great payoff waiting.

The character archetypes are pretty standard stuff in STATE OF PLAY.   But a cast of headliners bring them to life in a fresh, relevant way.   Congressman Stephen Collins (a rather flat Ben Affleck) is a rising party star, handsome and erudite.   His wife Anne (Robin Wright Penn) was his college sweetheart and is beautiful but not glamorous — the perfect political helpmate.   The Collins’ friend Cal McAffrey (Russell Crowe at his messy best) is a crack investigative reporter for the Washington Globe, barely controlled by his editor Cameron Lynne (Helen Mirren).   Neophyte journalist Della Fry (Rachel McAdams, aptly described as “dewy-eyed“ by Mirren) writes a blog for the internet edition of the Globe, churning out paragraphs of fluff copy a day.   The Globe is obviously modeled on The Washington Post, and the newspaper itself is an imposing character in the film.

McAffrey must balance friendship and journalistic integrity as he is sucked dangerously deeper and deeper into the story.   The plot is tight, exciting, and feels ripped-from-the-headlines real.   The suspense that builds does not rely on special effects or elaborately choreographed chase scenes.   This is good storytelling: more than once I caught my own heart racing as the plot twisted and turned down the streets of Washington.

There are definite nods to history in the film as well. Echoes of Watergate permeate the film, and there is a bit of political preaching about the privatization of military and paramilitary service.   But STATE OF PLAY is meant to entertain first and foremost, and it delivers.   Look for an exceptional, frightening performance by Jason Bateman as a super-slick, strung-out wannabe-fixer who inhabits the shadowy margins of Capitol Hill.   Jeff Daniels also nails his role as Congressional Majority Whip George Fergus, unctuously manipulating his party’s representatives while charming the press and the public.   Oscar nominee Viola Davis (for DOUBT in 2008) steals her single scene as a city coroner.

STATE OF PLAY explores more than integrity in journalism and politics.   Each character in the film is expert at manipulating others to achieve a desired result.   In some cases, there’s a positive payoff; in others, disaster results.  The film asks the viewer directly: Does the end justify the means?   What would you do for yourself, your job, your family, your country?   STATE OF PLAY also invites the audience to ponder the truth and the media‘s influence how we perceive events.   We see several instances of clever, well chosen words used to sidestep the truth as well as the law during Congressional hearings, a police investigation, editorial meetings, and interviews.   Perhaps most interestingly, STATE OF PLAY reminds us that although investigative reporters chase the story and win awards for their best efforts, a newspaper’s success is measured solely by how many copies it sells.   How much information should an editor be willing to sacrifice to break a story first?

Kevin MacDonald has given us a first-rate thriller. Settle in for an four- star story well told.