Although based on a BBC television series, "State of Play" exhibits a great many recognizably American qualities in its use of historical, political, and cinematic contexts. A kind of throwback to those old reporter-as-detective mysteries from the 1930's, it incorporates a number of familiar subjects drawn from contemporary history, including Watergate, the Gary Condit affair, the criminality of the military-industrial complex, and the corruption of the nation's elected political leaders, all of which make it as American as violence and apple pie.

The film opens in Washington with the desperate flight of a man from some unknown pursuer through heavy traffic, which ends in the fugitive's murder, followed by a second shooting, of a witness who stumbles on the scene. Soon after that incident, a young woman, the lead investigator for an important congressman (Ben Affleck), apparently commits suicide by jumping in front of a subway train. The reporter who covers the shooting (Russell Crowe) for the Washington Globe discovers a connection between the two deaths, which opens up a convoluted plot, an explosive political scandal, and an examination of the ethics of contemporary journalism.

The congressional aide's death becomes a sensation when the tabloids trumpet her romantic relationship with Affleck's character, who chairs a committee investigating the criminal conduct of a defense contractor very like the notorious Blackwater. Since Affleck and Crowe are old friends, college roommates years ago, the reporter's feelings about the congressman and his wife (Robin Wright Penn) necessarily conflict with his desire to learn the truth and, of course, write the story. Complicating matters further, he must compete not only with other papers, but also with the Globe's blogger (Rachel McAdams), who purveys the gossip of Capitol Hill.

Working under the relentless pressure of his editor (Helen Mirren), who doubts his belief in the connection between the two deaths, and torn between loyalty to his old friends and the need to solve the puzzles of motive and murderer, Crowe enlists the blogger's help in essentially violating all sorts of professional rules of conduct. He pilfers evidence, browbeats a potential witness, illegally videotapes the man's story, and conceals facts from the police. As he and his sidekick delve deeper into the mystery, they uncover a tangle of manipulation and many layers of duplicity, so that their investigation grows ever more confusing, constantly changing focus and target - the title of "State of Play" suggests something of that almost continuous deception.

In keeping with the traditions of the thriller, Crowe encounters a number of surprises and reversals, those familiar metamorphoses that also of course confound the audience. Frequently when he believes he has reached an answer to his questions, the object of his quest, everything changes, the truth recedes from view, and he no longer discerns the difference between right and wrong. Since his friend the congressman accuses him of simply wanting to write a story rather than accomplish any good, he also labors under a considerable burden of doubt and guilt.

The casting of Russell Crowe, a very busy actor, as the protagonist raises some odd questions, especially about just how he achieved prominence as a sexy leading man rather than a slightly offbeat character actor. Short, pudgy, and scruffy, despite a competent performance, he hardly qualifies as a romantic ideal, but demonstrates the famous magic of the cinema that for a while at least turned him into a tall, muscular, masculine hero who appealed to millions of women (see "Sex and the City" for confirmation).

The director relies perhaps too heavily on the hand-held camera, presumably to provide something like a documentary feel to a film that certainly resembles some recent history. He also employs the common contemporary device of inserting news announcements by recognizable television personalities - the hysterical Chris Matthews, for instance, plays himself - to emphasize the topicality and authenticity of his subject. The final credits roll over footage of the complete process of transmitting a reporter's article from his computer screen to the printing apparatus, the printing, sorting, folding, stacking, the binding and delivery, which conforms nicely with the protagonist's belief in the need for newspapers even in an age of 24-hour television news and the Internet, perhaps even a faith in the printed word itself.

State of Play

(PG-13), directed by Kevin Macdonald

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