With people increasingly relying on blogs, websites and television for their news, old school newspaper journalists like Cal McCaffrey (Crowe) have become a dying breed. When the research assistant and mistress of a prominent congressman and friend Stephen Collins (Affleck) is murdered, however, McCaffrey must reluctantly team with young political blogger Della Frye (McAdams) to investigate the murder. As they gradually uncover conspiracy after conspiracy, McCaffrey and Frye discover first hand just how deadly deadlines can be.

Based on the BBC mini-series of the same name, State Of Play is a taut, swift and unexpectedly witty thriller that is thoroughly engaging for every second of its 117-minute runtime. Anchored by an intelligent script, Crowe brings an undeniable screen presence to the film and makes a surprisingly effective duo with McAdams, despite his at-times distracting haircut. Affleck, for all the critical drubbing he's been getting, shows that he does have the chops to be a good actor, although perhaps works best in a ensemble capacity than as a lead.