Review: State of Play

Going into State of Play, I was not exactly sure what I would think of it. I knew it had a great cast and one of those trailers that makes a movie look very intense, but I did not know much more than that. Basically, Russell Crowe is the old timer journalist for the Washington Post who is college pals with a Congressman (Ben Affleck). Affleck is looking to take down PointCorp, a mercenary program profiting off war when his lead researcher ends up dead and it is leaked that he had an affair with her. Now, a young blogger at the paper (Rachel McAdams) goes to Crowe to try to get answers. Crowe is reluctant on first, but the two start to unravel a story that begins to interweave with and impact personal lives. Crowe and McAdams try to break the story without breaking the law (too much) and keeping their lives.

This is one of those movies where you start watching, and then suddenly you realize youre basically sitting in the next row you're so far on the edge of your seat. The story is so well mapped out and its the perfect amount of mystery where you as a viewer can put the pieces together, but you still get a few big curveballs thrown at you. It also has one of those early twists where Crowe and McAdams are working on two stories that suddenly become the same story (or a Johnny Gossamer novel for those Kiss Kiss Bang Bang fans). The story comes together really nicely, and they are not afraid to throw in one last twist.

Not only did this movie have great performances by the main cast (Affleck, Crowe, McAdams and Helen Mirren), but it also had some very strong supporting roles. Jeff Daniels played a great congressman with his own secrets. Jason Bateman played a dopey PR guy who becomes a big piece of the puzzel. It also features Michael Weston (Kenny the cop from Garden State) as another journalist). Overall, the cast puts on a great performance. There is a line in the movie that says "those are the kind of cases you only find in movies." Once they said that I realized how real this whole movie felt, which was pretty sweet.

See if you like:
The Departed

Rating:
8/10

Review: Adventureland

Greg Mottola's first film after 'Superbad' does not disappoint. If you were to make this movie into an equation from 'Superbad,' it would look something like this: The Same Amount Bill Hader + Heart - Laughs + Vampire Lovers + Substituting a new awkward lead = Adventureland. Mottola really steps it up with this movie, and there was really so many enjoyable parts to this movie. Yes, it may not have as many laughs as Superbad, but it is close; Where it completely beats Superbad is story.

'Adventureland' has such a solid story that is funny, heart-warming, and mostly realistic. It's got the twists and turns, problems, and dialogue that a good script needs. Jesse Eisenberg shines as the awkward, post-college grad kid who needs a summer job to pay for graduate school. He really is like a less known Michael Cera with curlier hair. Kristen Stewart also shows she has really grown as an actress and puts a lot of emotion into her character. Bill Hader and Kristen Wiig provide great comedic releif during the dramatic parts of the story, and hold the movie together.

The movie is also great at creating a product of its time, the 80s. The songs, clothing, and attitudes are all extremely accurate to its time period (not that I would know, but I feel like this would be the 80s). 'Adventureland' makes me wish I had a one of these summers in my town where you had a great time with the people you worked with an romance thrived. While the story seems like a high school tale, it does take place four years later, which means I still have hope.

This film also features the great Martin Starr from the extraordinary "Freaks and Geeks," which alone is worth watching it for. Him and Eisenberg turn into best friends and they are both incredibly geeky, and they play those roles well. The story of course has the question of friendship after betrayal, as well as the theme of will the geeky guy get the girl? While I don't want to answer those questions, I will say that Mottola finds a way to make the answers extremely realistic and that's what really hits home.

Rating: 8/10