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State of play
Probably the most acclaimed BBC drama of the decade, Paul Abbott's State of Play was a gripping conspiracy thriller in the tradition of Edge of Darkness and Hollywood movies like Three Days of the Condor and All The President's Men.
Hollywood soon snapped up the remake rights (initially for Brad Pitt and Edward Norton), although it's taken another six years to reach the screen - with neither Brad, nor any of the original creative team still attached. Paul Abbott, of course, has been keeping busy with Shameless, while director David Yates transferred his talents to the Harry Potter movies.
Our own Kevin Macdonald (The Last King of Scotland) assumes the director's chair for the movie, which is released in cinemas on 22nd April and stars Russell Crowe, Ben Affleck, Helen Mirren, Robin Wright Penn and Rachel McAdams. The screenplay credits go to Matthew Michael Carnahan (The Kingdom), Tony Gilroy (Michael Clayton) and Billy Ray (Breach).
Changes are inevitable, of course, when a six-hour British mini-series is distilled into an American feature film, so here are the key casting differences. There are spoilers ahead, though, so don't read on unless you've seen one version or the other...
Cal McAffrey (investigative journalist)
John Simm
In John Simm's hands, the co-lead role of nosey-parker journo Cal McAffrey is cynical and maverick, but always feels authentic. Simm brings a rather worn, everyman quality, so Cal's rule-breaking charm avoids a sense of superstar polish, and you believe he could become the grey, man-in-the-crowd that would be essential to his job.
Russell Crowe
The biggest change here may be the size of Cal's belly. Hollywood has a reputation for going for gloss and glamour, but nobody told our Russ, who remains committed to the shambling appearance of the weathered news hack. He's also six years older than Simm, so in the US version Cal went to college with congressman Stephen Collins, and his affair with Collins's wife is all in the past.
Stephen Collins (politician)
David Morrissey
Morrissey's age, size and screen presence are the perfect fit for an MP being groomed for party political stardom. Collins had his election campaign managed - successfully - by Cal, so they have history and the inside-track on each other, and it's their tension of intellect and instinct, trust and unease, loyalty and search for the truth - played with considerable expertise - that powers the entire drama.
Ben Affleck
Much younger than Morrissey (eight years), and indeed, younger than Simm and Crowe, this Stephen Collins must have been something of a child prodigy to get his degree at 14. Be that as it may, Affleck makes a convincing up-and-coming congressman. He's slick and idealistic, and the media furore when his researcher shows up dead is arguably more convincing in the US version.
Della Smith / Frye (cub reporter)
Kelly Macdonald
Kelly Macdonald is resourceful, intuitive and tenacious as Della Smith. She's an able ally for Cal, happy to collude but more than prepared to shove back if she feels he's straying off-track.
Rachel McAdams
Della Frye (as she's now called) has been re-imagined as a hot young blogger on the newspaper, to Cal's initial scorn. The character isn't particularly developed in the movie, but McAdams does okay.
Cameron Foster / Lynne (Cal's editor)
Bill Nighy
A rolling cameo performance in essence, Bill Nighy's sardonic, seen-it-all Editor of The Herald is one of many gems in the original mini-series, but is perhaps the sparkliest of all - reflected in the twinkle of Bill's eye as he delivers some delicious barbs, most of which aimed at his screen son, James McAvoy.
Helen Mirren
Here's the big switch. For many, Nighy stole the show in the original. Helen Mirren plays the part as a caricature Fleet Street veteran, swearing a blue streak in an unmistakably English manner. Truth be told, though, she's the weak link in the new version, and only a notch up from the Dick Van Dyke cockney charm school.
Polly Walker
As if the Collins/McAffrey relationship wasn't thorny enough, there's a rose in the picture to further complicate matters. Polly Walker carries just the right blend of beauty, poise and sexiness to convince as politician's wife, caring mother, suffering woman and - for Cal - rather saucy temptation.
Robin Wright Penn
Robin Wright Penn's casting makes sense opposite Russell Crowe - they look the same age, so you can believe they were students at the same time and that they might have had a thing, while scenes of her reluctantly standing by her disgraced man echo well with many real life US political scandals.
Dominic Foy (PR consultant)
Marc Warren
Dominic Foy is a whiny little toad with a lot of money, who starts game-playing way out of his league. Marc Warren lays the sleaze on thick, but threads in a shred of sympathy too.
Jason Bateman
Bateman and Warren are similar types, very good at playing slick sleazeballs. Bateman makes a strong impression in a relatively brief role.
Dan Foster (reporter)
James McAvoy
One of his earlier roles before the big James McAvoy boom, he's as good as we've come to expect, sparring in a minor role with attention-grabbing zest.
Nobody
Sorry fans, Dan doesn't make the cut in the movie version. There's only so much room for intrepid reporting in a two-hour running time...
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