It isn’t All the President’s Men— but there are worse ways to spend 2
hours than to watch a really talented cast and intelligent script try to
at it even if director Kevin Macdonald (The Last King of Scotland) is no Pakula
Macdonald plays key scenarios in
a parking garage (a really good tense thriller scene) and in and around
the Watergate hotel
Perhaps it’s because of the attempts
at All the President’s Men but I
couldn’t help but see Russell Crowe as a messy (his desk at the Washington
newspaper) long-haired Dustin Hoffman-type and Ben Affleck as the
clean-cut–more Robert Redford (but with a twist of course with that end)
role
Affleck is, of course, great at
playing the sleaze
Macdonald starts with a theme of
the media jumping to conclusions with some newsreel cutaways that pop up
into the film and then that drops off—poor form
But still- we have two murders
and an affair and at 29 minutes when they connect our mouse-trap narrative
is off and running
A very talented ensemble – when
Helen Mirren, Jeff Daniels, Robin Wright aren’t your stars the casting
director should be applauded. Viola Davis in a small role—Jason Bateman is
hilarious in a key role
Recommend but not that close to
the top 15-20 of 2009
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