ALLAN HUNTER at the Movies

SCOTTISH director Kevin Macdonald could be the new Alfred Hitchcock if State Of Play is anything to go by. He orchestrates this old-fashioned conspiracy thriller with all the sleek assurance of the master of suspense.

The characters are believable, the twisting storyline maintains credibility and the whole film unfolds with all the compelling urgency of a page-turning bestseller. The result is a rare instance of mainstream entertainment that doesn’t insult the intelligence.

State Of Play is a Hollywood version of the award-winning BBC television series. Now set in Washington, it begins with a couple of fatal incidents that prove to be connected. The death of a political researcher is reported as a suicide and the media savour the juicy details as they discover she was the mistress of clean-cut congressman Stephen Collins (Ben Affleck).

Washington Post journalist Cal McAffrey (Russell Crowe) suspects there is a bigger story here but his judgement could be clouded by the fact that Collins was his college roommate and remains a close friend.

Fuelled by paranoia and filled with red herrings, State Of Play leads the viewer into a conspiracy involving a sinister private security firm that will stop at nothing to protect the lucrative gravy train of its government contracts.

Set in a grey, grubby Washington, the film makes the most of a great cast that includes Rachel McAdams as blogger Della and Helen Mirren in commanding form as hard-bitten editor Cameron Lynne. Macdonald’s next film is a version of the children’s adventure classic The Eagle Of The Ninth that will film in Scotland this Summer. If he maintains the quality of State Of Play we should be in for a treat.

Nationwide release

Director: Kevin Macdonald
Cast: Russell Crowe, Ben Affleck, Rachel McAdams, Helen Mirren, Jason Bateman, Robin Wright Penn
Screenwriters: Matthew Michael Carnahan, Tony Gilroy, Billy Ray
Certificate: 12A
Running time: 127mins
Country: USA
Year: 2009