Talk:State of Play (film)

Cast section
Can I suggest that the Cast section be a list instead of a table? Tables tend to limit content to basic information, like with the current attributes of actor and role. Lists, in my experience, are more appropriate because character descriptions and real-world context about the roles can be added with ease. See Sunshine (2007 film) and The Dark Knight (film) for a couple of examples of how lists work. —Erik (talk • contrib) - 17:29, 26 September 2007 (UTC)


 * Cheers, done. Steve  T • C 19:43, 26 September 2007 (UTC)

Bits and bobs

 * Simm supplanted by Pitt - of possible use in section on British reaction to the adaptation of its "hit" series.

"'John Simm, the star of Clocking Off, Sex Traffic and Life on Mars, is widely considered to be one of the best television actors to emerge in recent years. But he has been sidelined by Hollywood in the film version of one of his biggest successes, the political thriller State of Play. In the latest example of the trend for British actors to be replaced by Americans, it was revealed yesterday that Brad Pitt is due to take the lead role in the film remake of the serial, a critical and commercial success for the BBC.'"

"'Liz Thomas, a writer on television for The Stage newspaper said the making of the film was a good advertisement for British television, although the choice of Pitt was 'frustrating' for domestic actors such as Simm. She said: 'British TV is certainly very hip in Hollywood these days and, despite criticisms that the Americans do drama better, pieces like State of Play show we can more than hold our own. Thankfully, Abbott is executive producer on the film so the gripping plot and beautifully crafted dialogue won't be lost in translation.' She added: 'The good thing about reworking the show into a big-budget, high-profile film is that it is a huge advert or shop window for the sort of things that have come out of the UK in recent years, particularly given the smaller budgets. Brad Pitt will be a huge draw and commercially this makes sense. But, of course, it is frustrating that, given the wealth of acting talent available, that it isn't a Brit.''"

Steve T • C 19:44, 26 September 2007 (UTC)


 * Definitely can be worked into it. I think it's relevant.  Go for it. —Erik (talk • contrib) - 02:17, 27 September 2007 (UTC)


 * Apparently, this movie also inspired a Tamil movie, called 'KO'. http://entertainment.oneindia.in/tamil/news/2010/jeeva-ko-inspired-state-of-play-190410.html — Preceding unsigned comment added by 115.117.193.192 (talk) 09:02, 20 December 2011 (UTC)

Release date
Is a 2008 release date really confirmed at this point? IMDb estimates the release years of upcoming films, and considering that this film has had its share of delays, it may not come out till 2009. Any citation that mentions the intent to release in 2008? — Erik (talk • contrib) - 23:08, 20 January 2008 (UTC)


 * One of the Variety cites originally mentioned it, but that may have changed since the postponement. I'll have a look, and if I can't find a cite dated 2008 I'll remove the information. Steve  T • C 08:09, 21 January 2008 (UTC)


 * OK, the Working Title website says 2009; I'll update now. Cheers, Steve  T • C 08:33, 21 January 2008 (UTC)

Templates
I noticed that some references use the cite web template, where the rest of them use cite news. The ones using cite web should be changed, because from what I can tell, they're news sources as opposed to dynamic pages like Box Office Mojo and Rotten Tomatoes. — Erik (talk • contrib) - 15:03, 25 January 2008 (UTC)

Color guard photo
It would be brilliant if anyone knows which photograph Macdonald is talking about here:"Macdonald's aim was to recreate a famous 1970s Canadian photograph, which depicts rifle-twirling majorettes, in order to emphasize militaristic themes and to comment upon the place of guns in American society."The article could use a decent image or two to spruce it up, and I think it'd pass the fair use requirements, especially once the film is out and we can do a side-by-side comparison. Steve T • C 19:05, 27 March 2008 (UTC)
 * Maybe you can inquire at WP:RD/H? — Erik (talk • contrib) - 19:09, 27 March 2008 (UTC)
 * Excellent! I didn't even think of that. Thanks, Steve  T • C 22:04, 27 March 2008 (UTC)

Intro too long
No need to summarise the production information in the introduction as it is included in the article in detail. Keep the intro short and sweet, preferably less than the recommended three paragraph suggested maximum. Removed information included here because even though I don't think it is necessary I'm explaining my reasons and not trying and bury in the History. -- Horkana (talk) 11:35, 13 April 2009 (UTC)
 * State of Play is produced by Andell Entertainment and Working Title Films for Universal Pictures, which acquired the rights after they were subject to two bidding wars. Brad Pitt was to star in the role ultimately filled by Crowe, but he left the production after disagreements with the studio over the direction of script rewrites. Pitt's departure led to the postponement of filming, which was originally scheduled to start in November 2007. The delay meant that Edward Norton could not play the role of the Congressman due to a scheduling conflict, and he was replaced by Affleck. Principal photography took place from January 11, 2008 to April 6, 2008 in Los Angeles and Washington D.C. State of Play was to be released in the United States towards the end of 2008, but the production delay saw the date changed to April 17, 2009.

Premise
Did the person who wrote the premise watch the movie? It has a lot errors. I just watched it this morning "ambitions to become his party's presidential candidate" this is never mentioned in the film. "while right-wing opponents to Collins' campaign for social reform attempt to use the scandal to kill his political career." This never happened in the film either. "Collins' former campaign manager," never mentioned in the film. They mention they were roomates in college. "becoming romantically involved with the Congressman's estranged wife (Wright Penn) in the process." This doesn't happen during the film either. It is mentioned that they had an affair in the past but not during the movie. The premise is practically completely wrong. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 64.237.180.179 (talk) 23:51, 16 April 2009 (UTC)
 * I wrote it, and I agree with you. The premise was written long before the film was completed, and was based simply upon plot points that were mentioned in the press coverage the film's development received. If you want to have a stab at writing a full plot summary, go right ahead. Otherwise, I'll see if I can pull together some quotes from more recent (and hopefully accurate) coverage to craft a new "Premise" section. Thanks again, Steve  T • C 07:19, 17 April 2009 (UTC)

order of battle
Crowe's sidekick should be listed higher as she's the principle supporting part. Andrewjlockley (talk) 23:16, 22 April 2009 (UTC)


 * Actually, I would say her role is that of the lead actress. 211.225.34.177 (talk) 00:59, 27 December 2009 (UTC)

No mention of Blackwater?
I think it is quite obvious that PointCorp is a fictionalized version of Blackwater. Shouldn't this be mentioned? Koszper gabor (talk) 14:13, 21 May 2009 (UTC)


 * No problem; rustle up a reliable cite and we'll add it in. All the best, Steve  T • C 14:17, 21 May 2009 (UTC)

It should be mentioned that Sonia Baker was played by Maria Thayer
It should be mentioned that Sonia Baker was played by Maria Thayer —Preceding unsigned comment added by 132.161.220.38 (talk) 00:49, 12 September 2009 (UTC)

Dan Brown
Having just watched the film, was Dan Brown (the author) in the film, possibly playing the role of the COE of PointCorp at the Senate hearings, a Dan Brown was named in the credits at the end? —Preceding unsigned comment added by Frannyb1956 (talk • contribs) 14:56, 5 November 2009 (UTC)
 * No.  That Ole Cheesy Dude  ( Talk to the hand! ) 23:15, 23 July 2011 (UTC)

Irrelevant footnote?
The footnote Roger Moore (2008-12-23). "No doubt, actress impresses". Orlando Sentinel (Tribune Company). http://www.orlandosentinel.com/entertainment/movies/orl-violadavis08dec23,0,7794630.story. Retrieved 2008 seems to be entirely about an actress who is not listed as being in SoP. I could find no mention of SoP in the link. 211.225.34.177 (talk) 00:54, 27 December 2009 (UTC)


 * It's there, briefly (last two paragraphs). Although, because it says Davis' role is a "single-scene turn", maybe we should still remove it? Steve  T • C 01:00, 27 December 2009 (UTC)

Omission of key scenes in plot
In comparison to plots of other films i have read on Wikipedia, I believe that the plot omits key details. The congressman is shown a tape of the PR man's revelations, after which he proceeds to physcally assault him. I think this i a key part of the plot since it leads to the congressman's selective revelations later at the newspaper, the comment by his wife and the realization by McAffrey that the couple knew of Sonia Baker's work for PointCorp before the PR man's tape. I think the plot should be slightly updated to include this informationat at least. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 41.190.90.35 (talk) 23:45, 2 March 2010 (UTC)

Very End: the flash
The last scene shows the truck full of the breaking-story newspapers. There is a mystifying flash, followed by the scene going erratically black as though the camera were knocked out. Have found no source or site discussing this anomaly, and am strongly inclined to think it's meant to depict that the company decided to destroy the entire building rather than have the bad press leak out. Everyone in the know about the scandal was in the building at the time, and the truck and contents would be destroyed. Nobody mentions this odd, and otherwise pointless, visual effect. JohndanR (talk) 22:11, 30 June 2016 (UTC)

Casting
"The majority of Crowe's three hours per day in hair and makeup preparation was spent hiding his "extremely long" hair, which he grew for his roles as Robin Hood and Sheriff of Nottingham in Nottingham." Matthew MacFadyen played the sheriff in the film which was called Robin Hood on release. Was Crowe originally cast as both characters or is this plain wrong? TheOneOnTheLeft (talk) 06:58, 14 May 2011 (UTC)

External links modified
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External links modified
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Possible Significant Plot Element Omission
Hi. I know I'm a little to the game. Upon re-screening State of Play (film), I noticed something that might have significant effects on story, character motivations and thematic elements. In the final scene, Cal McCaffrey (Russell Crowe) appears to finalize the article which sums the plot, as "experienced" in this film's world. Of course I paused and read it's entirety as best I could, and noticed it states "..when police went to arrest Bingham (Michael Berresse) at his Northern Virginia apartment last night, he was found dead, apparently of a self-inflicted gunshot wound. {scene 1:56:30}. However (in the edit i saw), Bingham was gunned down by police as he tried to kill McCaffrey outside of Stephen Collins' (Ben Affleck) office {scene 1:49:40}. This may indicate a late change to the film, leading to a subsequent oversight during the final edit, or an overlooked intentional plot element, hinting at a yet another conspiracy and a level of corruption within the newspaper, or a run-of-mill alternate ending; or maybe a misunderstanding on my part. If anyone can confirm either way, and let me know if it is something worth adding to the wiki, please let me know; i would be happy to investigate further add it. — Preceding unsigned comment added by VoicemailRadio (talk • contribs) 11:20, 2 November 2019 (UTC)

Music "moon"?
There is an incomprehensible reference to "moon" in the music section. Perhaps a person of that surname?Rozsaphile1 (talk) 13:47, 3 September 2021 (UTC)