The State of Washington

In my constant quest to find as many films which feature older women in powerful roles as I can, here's another. 'State of Play' is a fast paced thriller with Helen Mirren as the Editor of The Washington Globe and Russel Crowe as the top reporter. She has great wisecracks, pithy retorts and quite a nice line in power dressing. Lean and tanned, she is showing the results of her years in L.A. but has lost none of the direct, disturbing focus she used to interrogate 'persons of interest' in 'Prime Suspect.'

I went to see a preview put on by 'Popcorn Taxi' - the gen Y conduit to the latest movies and their makers. In the time afterwards, they had director Kevin Macdonald on the phone from England. He explained his casting dilemma - with Brad Pitt leaving the movie only a week before the shoot as a result of a script disagreement. Russel Crowe stepped in and saved the day but still they had no rehearsal for what is a tense, tight, thriller. To see how many people are assembled for a big film like this,click on the 'What Just Happened' trailer for the Bruce Willis scene. Macdonald and Russel Crowe had a weekend to go over the role before Monday rolled in and the whole show began.

I don't know how people pull together a performance so fast when they have to be an ensemble for so much of it, let alone master an intricate plot line that grabs you from the initial short, sharp, shock through to the end. For 'Mao's Last Dancer' one of the overseas actors had the plot line for his character typed out in bold letters at the head of each scene. That's one way of knowing exactly where you stand.

To see the trailer for 'State of Play click here: