State of Play

State of Play I saw State of Play in the AMC @ Saratoga. Nice theatre. Standard fare in most theatres here. Didn't know that noon shows are usually priced lesser when compared to the evening shows. Nice way to attract crowds. Well, it is common sense now that i think of it. Like old times, i reached right on time to see the ads & the trailers. The ads were quite pathetic, well, trailers were good. Just watching the trailers make you want to watch the movie. Well, i have listed star wars, wolverine .. etc. Surprisingly, i had not listed State of Play in my list of must watch, when i saw the trailer of this movie. it turned out to be a good movie. Fast paced, suspense, an investigation - all that it takes for a thriller. A must watch movie, now that i think of it. Ben Affleck plays the role of a manipulative politician well. Russel Crowe & his partner play the roles of journalists well. I keep wondering how these chaps keep switching from being completely out of shape like in this movie to a well built and well muscled person like in Gladiator. What additional i liked about the movie was perhaps the fact that i had to try to put the pieces together myself and use my brain a bit, which was really nice. Politicians in india don't have to be circumspect about their nefarious activities as perhaps censure by people is very less. Here in America, politicians have to be careful esp about the media. I am always surprised by people like the politician in this movie who use people with impunity. I feel so very awkward to ask a favor of anyone and this person and so many others i know use people without any qualms. The fact that there has to be a payback is apparently just a way of life. Exchanging favors seems to be easy for so many and so difficult for me. I don't mind doing a favor, but find it so very difficult calling on one. Ben Affleck in the movie uses the services of a mentally unstable chap and gets a person murdered. Now that is one big favor. Then comes the question of correct & wrong. Was it correct to expose your friend? Is it correct to expose a family member? Are there certain rules written in stone? In a real situation, I would have gone ahead and exposed Ben Affleck as the chap used me. Would i have done that if Ben were a close family member? I wonder. The reason i don't write about the plot in the movie is because i don't think i am narrating a story in this write-up. I am trying to capture what i felt as a result of watching the movie.