The State Within (2006) Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)A cracking political thriller with most of the action Washington based and involving governments, private companies and perhaps predictably, a small oil-rich Asian country (Trygyzstan, Tyrgyztan or Tyrygsztan depending how quick your eyes are) so the events are very contemporary and mostly credible, too.
The 350 minutes get off to a stunning start with an airliner being blown up and crashing onto an expressway near Washington and from this point on you'll be hooked like I was. Considering this is not big bucks Hollywood the crash looked incredibly convincing, as does everything else though it was mostly filmed in Toronto and Hamilton, Ontario.
The six parts move along efficiently, especially with plenty of steadycam and accompanying sound effects, but you'll have to pay attention because this is not black and white plotting, the good guys are not obvious and there is no winning side. The casting is fine with Jason Isaacs turning in a great British Ambassador and perhaps Sharon Gless should be taken on by Department of Defence as their no-nonsense Secretary (but maybe her hands are tainted, too). Nothing is what it seems at first.
The UK DVD release includes a twenty-seven minute 'making of' extra. Worth a look though it is the usual back slapping stuff. Several minutes are devoted to creating the airliner crash, which I thought were interesting and Grainne Marmion has some good comments on how she interpreted the production.
This is a conspiracy thriller that will certainly be worth watching several times.

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Can you believe what your superiors tell you -- even if you are the British Ambassador to America? In this high octane, action-packed conspiracy thriller, a terrifying plot is played out along the dark corridors of power. When a flight explodes in mid-air over Washington D.C., the British Embassy finds itself enveloped in a diplomatic catastrophe. What happens next is a cat's cradle of tangled affinities and conflicting interests told through interlinking stories that unfold as British Ambassador Mark Brydon slowly realizes that he is being played by an invisible puppeteer with great power.

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State of Play (BBC Miniseries) (2003) Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)"The more compelling moments of the series come not in the various subplots surround the mystery in front of us--although it is a great mystery indeed--but in how indoctrinate and incestuous the interplay between politics, media, and industry are in the modern information age. All three stand at cross-purposes, yet secretly acknowledge that none can succeed without careful consideration of the other two. Vital communication often runs deep underneath the observed interactions between the groups, taking place in back-room meetings and clandestine e-mails, and through veiled threats." Judge Arsenault
Having just come off the viewing of 10 weeks of the critically acclaimed HBO's TV show 'The Wire', I needed a pick me up, and wowser did I find one. This BBC 6 show series that aired in 2004 has it all and it is an even toss up with me as to which show is best, 'The Wire' or 'State of Play'. In both series the acting is superb. Bill Nighy as the wry, buttoned down, full of himself editor of the Herald hits the mark every time and won the UK's Best Actor award. Polly Walker known to most of us from HBO's 'Rome' is the politician's wife and is flawless. David Morrissey, as the politician, John Simm and Kelly Macdonald as the intrepid reporters for the Herald mark this cast as fully realized.
The shotgun murder of a drug-related killing, and the apparent accidental death of Sonia Baker, a researcher for Member of Parliament Stephen Collins seems unrelated. The one difference is the makings of a scandal when the news of Sonia's death hits the streets. Stephen Collins the Parliament member who employed Sonia is visibly shocked and upset when her death is announced. The editor of the Herald suspects some hanky-panky and sends two of his best investigative reporters out to look the matter over. Cal McCaffrey and Della Smith find that these two deaths are not only related but were linked to the oil industry and the British government. One scandal after another is uncovered and this minor story soon leaps to the largest story of the year.
The story of corruption and mayhem and lies and deceit are all realistic. The fact that the media, government and industry could all be in collusion seems all too true to those of us in the US looking at the war in Iraq and what has been wrought. What we don't count on is that once we think we have everything figured out, a new twist occurs. Some of this is a little over the top, but the superb acting counters any fallacy.
'State Of Play' shines on the media, in this case, the newspaper, the Herald. Financial success is intertwined with the government, and it is not easy to convince the CEO and the board that publishing the story is the right thing to do. Everyone in this series is touched in some manner by the final decisions and actions that take place. The action, the suspense, the writing, the cinematography are all as one to produce one of the best BBC series I have viewed. Helen Mirren and Russell Crowe are at this moment filming a movie version of this series. We have the best here, how could they ever top this series?
Highly, Highly Recommended. prisrob 03-13-08
The Girl in the Cafe
8 1/2 Women


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Stephen Collins is an ambitious politician. Cal McAffrey is a well-respected investigative journalist and Stephen's ex-campaign manager. En route to work one morning, Stephen's research assistant mysteriously falls to her death on the London Underground. It's not long before revelations of their affair hit the headlines. Meanwhile a suspected teenage drug dealer is found shot dead. These (apparently unconnected) events expose a dangerous habit within modern government of dancing too closely with the corporate devil. Friendships are tested and lives are put on the line as an intricate web of lies unfolds.

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