State of Play

Okay, okay, okay... this was just fabulous. I mean really, really fabulous. Originally a miniseries on the BBC, this is what television should be and simply never is. Smart, well written, well acted, with an intriguing and relevant plot, believable characters behaving in believable ways... just wow. So suck up the fact that it's a two DVD rental and the better part of six hours to watch start to finish... it's worth every minute.

It would be impossible to sum up the plot in a paragraph here, but the gist is that the mistress of a high profile member of parliament dies violently leaving her boss devastated and the press ... interested. Apparently journalists in the UK still practice journalism which involves taking risks and digging. So the convoluted plot is driven by journalistic curiosity and a couple of detectives who are actually interested in uncovering the truth. Novel, no? You can barely keep up with where this goes but let's just add assassination, government cover ups and ... wait for it... oil companies. It just gets better and better and you will not guess where it ends.

Add to that a surprising array of British talent - some of which you will recognize like the incomparable Bill Nighy and the up and coming James McAvoy - and some that you won't, like David Morrissey and John Simm. Anyway you look at it, the acting is superb - way better than most of what we see on TV. Watch this quick because I'm sure it's about to be completely ruined by an American remake scheduled for release next year (for one they're compressing it into 2+ hours and for two they're setting it in DC.) If you're still not convinced, there's more here.