(2009) There's a lot in play in this murder mystery, based on a BBC-TV miniseries, directed by Kevin Macdonald and relocated in Washington, DC.

Two stories being covered by different reporters at the Washington Globe unexpectedly come together. Veteran journalist Cal McAffrey (Russell Crowe) discovers a link between the murder of a junkie and simultaneous shooting of a pizza-delivery guy on a bicycle with the suicide of the mistress of his college friend Stephen Collins (Ben Affleck), a congressman from Pennsylvania and rising political star on a panel investigating PointCorp (think Blackwater).

The death of Sonia Baker, a 26-year-old researcher, is the subject of young reporter Della Frye (Rachel McAdams), who gets the brush off from Cal when asked for background on his buddy. Collins's career and his marriage to Anne (Robin Wright Penn) are about to collapse.

When the salacious angle of the story gets away from the Globe, the newspaper's publisher Cameron Lynne (Helen Mirren), under pressure in a contracting media market, gets impatient with McAffrey's insistence that he and Frye be allowed more time to develop the real story behind the events: PointCorp, the military's outsourcing contractor in Iraq and Afghanistan, is behind a multibillion-dollar corporate conspiracy to privatize Homeland Security. The suicide was actually a murder.

Complicating matters, Anne still feels desire for Cal (from their college days); and Cal, having compassion, hopes to rescue his pal from ruin by exposing the real motive behind Sonia's death. The waters are further muddied as events flow through the Watergate into a torrent that eventually concludes as a muddle.

It's a good crime thriller that doubles back on itself once too often.

Click here for links to places to buy or rent this movie in video and/or DVD format, or to buy the soundtrack, posters, books, even used videos, games, electronics and lots of other stuff. I suggest you shop at least two of these places before buying anything. Prices seem to vary continuously. For more information on this film, click on this link to The Internet Movie Database. Type in the name of the movie in the search box and press enter. You will be able to find background information on the film, the actors, and links to much more information.

Copyright © 2009 Patrick Ivers. All rights reserved.
Reproduced with the permission of the copyright holder.

Patrick Ivers can be reached via e-mail at .