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Movies of the Month > State of Play

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message 1: by Elaine (last edited Nov 14, 2009 05:29PM) (new)

Elaine (httpgoodreadscomelaine_chaika) | 241 comments I watched State of Play the other night. Either it is true, and, if so, scary as Hell, or it is a doomsday flick making up a story about a secret miliitary for hire operation funded by Congress who will control all our lives even more thoroughly than Stalin controlled Russia. It is well-acted, although a short, fat, unkempt Russell Crowe took some getting used to, and decently shot, albeit with a lot of predictable shots of Crowe walking through bare corridors with rows of matching doors on both sides, all without labels, to emphasize both the impersonality and secrecy of our government and his own (and our) entrapment. There is also a lot of proselytizing of the necessity for newspapers and how vulnerable we all will become if they die out as a source of news (as they seem to be doing.) The implication is that only an independent newspaper can uncover the truth and tell us what's really going on. Of course, the news reporter is a supersleuth who won't give up and keeps on digging when it seems as if the treasure has been uncovered. Shades of Watergate. Do these Doomsday movies, telling us that our entire government is totally corrupt serve a purpose? If they're true, of course they do. But if they are not true, what is the result of undermining every shred of faith people have in their leaders? BTW, the movie is enjoyable.


message 2: by Ceci (new)

Ceci (cecialbiceleste) | 529 comments The movie is pretty good but the British tv series it's based on is far superior. Do watch it if you can! It is available on dvd.


message 3: by Phillip (last edited Nov 15, 2009 08:40AM) (new)

Phillip | 10980 comments Elaine wrote: "I watched State of Play the other night. Either it is true, and, if so, scary as Hell, or it is a doomsday flick making up a story about a secret miliitary for hire operation funded by Congress wh..."



....you've never heard of blackwater?



message 4: by Elaine (last edited Nov 18, 2009 08:37AM) (new)

Elaine (httpgoodreadscomelaine_chaika) | 241 comments Yes, I have, which is why the movie is so scary, but can it be that Blackwater is so all-encompassing and powerful, (yes) -- or are they just saying, given precedents, this can happen? What I want is some hard evidence that it has gone so far, that Blackwater is still a major player, etc. Otherwise, it's just propaganda of an especially pernicious kind. If people just give up, thinking government is controling every aspect of our lives, they will succumb to that as the Russians did for so long (& need I remind you of of Nazis who first promulgated their propaganda as truth in movies.)


message 5: by Phillip (last edited Nov 15, 2009 04:30PM) (new)

Phillip | 10980 comments i would have to see this movie before i comment further; it has remained, like so many other russell crowe movies, outside my radar.


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