State of Play is yet another political thriller about corporate greed, corruption, and an affair on Capitol Hill and its subsequent fallout. Except this one features strong performances from Crowe and McAdams (the reporters investigating the affair) and Affleck (the cheating politician) and crisp directing from Kevin Macdonald (Touching the Void, The Last King of Scotland).

Unfortunately, like other political thrillers, State of Play also features a predictable set of twists and turns and cliché character development leading to a fairly obvious conclusion. While the movie did set itself up for a grand finale to redeem the last hour and a half, it seems the writers couldn’t conjure up an encore leaving what was, until that point, a good film feeling pretty mediocre. With the economy in a recession, you wonder how movies like this get funding. However, with a star studded cast and respectable director, it seemed to have everything going for it.

The movie even made several politically relevant references that would’ve struck a chord with the audience had they not been over-dramatized. At times it felt like the ranting of a 55 year old hippie about the consequences of corporate greed raping the world. Yet another problem with the movie was the issue of leaving questions unanswered (never a good idea unless a sequel is planned), and State of Play did it at all the wrong times. As a result, what could’ve been a taut thriller felt like the producers cut corners to meet a deadline or not go over budget. The cast was there, the director was there, the cultural connection was there, sadly it seems the writers weren’t.