Laikals The greatest movie ever made..!

WillSushyMedia This movie was so-so. It had it's moments, but wasn't the greatest.

Clarissa Mora The tone of this movie is interesting -- the stakes are both dramatic and high, but it's balanced with a lot of fun, tongue and cheek dialogue.

Roy Hart If you're interested in the topic at hand, you should just watch it and judge yourself because the reviews have gone very biased by people that didn't even watch it and just hate (or love) the creator. I liked it, it was well written, narrated, and directed and it was about a topic that interests me.

Derek Smith I saw the Crowe film, State of Play, at the cinema, quite liked it (despite his accent) and found what I thought was the DVD in a shop with the price tag of £4. Too good to be true, I thought and I thought right. Imagine my disappointment when I got home to find it was a TV series that I hadn't seen when broadcast. My wife said to give it a go so we settled down to watch.We saw the first three episodes straight off, just as if it was an unputdownable book. We rushed our dinner the following night and then viewed the remainder. Less than a month later we saw the whole series again. It is that good. Brilliant in fact, the best BBC series since the '95 Pride and Prejudice.There were no weak performances, as one would expect with the likes of Bill Nighy, who was excellent, Kelly Macdonald, who is always good value but excelled herself here, John Simm, in his best performance so far, David Morrissey, who got the character to perfection, Marc Warren and oh, so many others.The script was clever, with some lovely one-liners, and the plot developed at a pace that was intriguing. I'm glad I hadn't seen the series when it first came out as I don't think I could have taken the gap between the episodes.The character development was far superior to the film, but then it was nearly four times longer so it was entitled to be. Some of the actors in smaller parts made them their own, most notably James Laurenson who was really horrible. Deborah Findlay was the perfect secretary. No so bit-part Polly Walker was excellent as well.There were little running jokes all the way through that lightened the film at just the right moments.The ending has come in for criticism but it was essential to give a reason for everything. I can't see the problem. Simm's choice, and his reasons, at the end is critical to the story.Bill Nighy had the best script. He owes the writers a few pints.I have just seen it again, courtesy of some awful weather, and it was just as brilliant as I remembered it. I don't want to criticise the film – although as half Irish I did find Crowe's accent, when he decided to try for it, somewhat wearing – by comparison as it has limitations that were not restricting this wonderful series but I have not bothered to buy the DVD of the film.There are few series/films you must see but this is one of them. I rate it at #2 in my top 10 TV films/series, and I'm not sure it shouldn't be joint #1 with Pride and Prejudice. It is that good. No, not good, classy.

Eva S. I've never been keen on political matters and many of the things that were said in this series made absolutely no sense to me. Some of them i got, others were just gibberish. But that was such a minor detail compared to the beautifully written script by Paul Abbott and the great performances of the leading and supporting actors.Now, what's really interesting is the scenario. Beyond politics, yet always involved with. Three murders that, at first, seemed unrelated are leading a politician's personal life in distress. Once the press gets its hands on too, things can only be worse or right.Quick, funny, rich and strong conversations, i really enjoyed the filming locations in London. It gave the story an appropriate atmosphere for a mystery case. I thought David Morissey's acting was fantastic and with John Simm they played in an amazing theatrical way. Bill Nighy is a catch-phrase man -again- always classy and we also see some of the first steps of James McAvoy, another great actor.If you're a fan of -such genre- British television shows, i think you're going to like it. If you're experimenting, you may try it.

zarembazwoman I take issue with some of the people commenting on "State of Play" who declare that they believe it to be "as good as American TV" or some other such nonsense. That's ridiculous! Perhaps it's a generational thing, but I have always thought that British productions, particularly drama, are light years ahead of American TV and the actors are in a whole different galaxy. The original "State of Play" is brilliant, suspenseful and a pleasure to watch. I cannot believe that there is going to be a "remake"! I love Helen Mirren and Russell Crowe, but there is absolutely no need for this series to be remade. Why can't they write something original for Mirren and Crowe? The Brits are the best. Period!

philip-prise-1 I missed this on original transmission (what was I doing in 2003?) but had heard so much about it from Life on Mars fans that I finally got round to buying it on DVD recently. Oh how wished I'd seen it before now.Its tight, fast paced, beautifully directed and filmed. All of the primary and supporting cast are excellent but special credit must go to the ever outstanding John Simm plus Kelly MacDonald and David Morrisey. The thought of Brad Pitt playing John's role in the Hollywood remake makes me laugh and cry in equal measure and not in a healthy way!! What's particularly brilliant is all the characters are three dimensional and believable. As has been said no cocky maverick reporters, no kick-ass post feminist female reporter with a chip on her shoulder. Just a group of professionals who find themselves through Cal's personal connections on the biggest story of their lives. Credit for that lies in excellent writing from Paul Abbot.The story starts and concludes on the apparent suicide of the personal assistant of the Chairman of The Energy Select Commitee, Stephen Collins (Morrisey), whom it transpires were having an affair.By accident and due to an unrelated story his friend and leading Herald reporter Cal (Simm) discovers evidence that her death may not have been suicide. From there the story snowballs until the highest reaches of the Government are implicated in a series of griping twists each one leaving you slightly more stunned than the last.Some people have said the concluding episode is a let-down but I must disagree. It actually makes a great deal of sense in the context of the story because the one thing they can't find in the whole story is that clue that leads to her murder. None of the key players in the conspiracy are able to shed light on it.The revelation as to how she actually died is extremely well played. Its dropped in casually and its not until you realise what has disturbed Cal so much, that it dawns on you that casual drunken outburst is the biggest twist of them all.Its this revelation that makes the ending so powerful because it isn't happy. Cal has published the greatest story of his life, but its the one he least expected or dared imagine could be true in his worst nightmare. State of Play is ultimately a story of betrayal.State of Play would be worth watching just for the ever brilliant John Simm (Brad, you'll need to give the best performance of your life to be half as good), the fact its six of the best hours of television I've seen just sweetens the deal. Watch it, Buy it. SEE IT.