State of Play

For those suffering from Wire-withdrawal, this six-hour BBC miniseries delivers a welcome jolt. Also for Michael Clayton fans, disappointed that the best film didn’t win “Best Picture.” Here Paul Abbott has written a superior conspiracy thriller script, and David Yates directs in propulsive style, with editing and music insistent on keeping up the pace. The story hurtles by, as the viewer strains to keep up with its twists and turns. It all starts when a lovely young research assistant for a British energy minister jumps -- or is pushed? -- in front of a train, and we follow a dedicated but unscrupulous band of reporters trying to get to the bottom of a story which seems to have no bottom, just a deeper and deeper cesspool of responsibility. The cast is amazing as an ensemble, whether little-known or quite familiar. Bill Nighy is superb as usual as the managing editor, Kelly Macdonald is reliably excellent as a spunky reporter (with her native Glasgow accent quite a shock after her full Texan in No Country for Old Men), James McAvoy hints at the movie star he would soon become as another of the reporters, Polly Walker overcomes her indelible image as Atia in the HBO miniseries Rome. Less familiar are the two leads -- John Simm as the lead reporter, and David Morrissey as the rising young MP (just what he played as eventual PM Gordon Brown in The Deal). I advise you to watch this series soon for full effect, since Abbott has adapted it for an American remake, which is now being filmed for 2009 release by Kevin Macdonald, with these substitutions: Helen Mirren, Rachel MacAdams, nobody, Robin Wright Penn, Russell Crowe, and Ben Affleck. (2003, dvd, n.) *7+*