Cert: 12A

When's it out? Now

Who's in it? Russell Crowe, Ben Affleck, Rachel McAdams, Helen Mirren, Jeff Daniels, Jason Bateman.

Who directed it? Kevin Macdonald.

What's it about? Adapted from the six-part 2003 BBC mini-series created by Paul Abbott, State Of Play is a timely political thriller about the tug of war between morality and sensationalist headlines.

The skeletal narrative of the award-winning six-hour television programme is untouched, transplanted from the corridors of power in London to the newsrooms and boardrooms of Washington D.C.

The snappy dialogue is punctuated with some terrific, suspenseful set pieces, including a shocking turn of events in a hospital room and a deadly game of cat and mouse in a subterranean car park, which leaves us holding our breath.

The film opens with US Congressman Stephen Collins (Affleck), the charismatic chairman of a televised committee hearing into defence budgets, breaking down as he relates the suicide of his staff assistant to attending journalists.

The media swarms and gossipmongers seize on the possibility of an extra-martial affair between the congressman and his beautiful aide.

As speculation intensifies, Collins confesses to an affair and begs forgiveness from his wife.

Hard-nosed Washington Globe editor Cameron Lynne (Mirren) assigns veteran reporter Cal McAffrey (Russell Crowe), a one-time friend of the senator, to cover the story.

Ambitious rookie Della Frye (McAdams) pitches herself to Cameron as McAffrey's sidekick.

Together with rookie reporter Della (McAdams), Cal seeks answers from powerful senator George Fergus (Daniels) and emotionally unstable public relations guru Dominic Foy (Bateman), gradually uncovering a deadly conspiracy, which casts doubt on the theory that the assistant committed suicide.

The verdict: State Of Play is a slickly orchestrated distillation of far superior, small-screen source material. There are several noticeable holes in the plot, which necessitate some Herculean leaps of logic for the characters to reach their dramatic conclusions.