Oscar winner russell crowe leads an all star cast in a blistering thriller about a rising congressman and an investigative journalist embroiled in a case of seemingly unrelated, brutal murders. With helen mirren, ben affleck and rachel mcadams. Crowe plays d.c. Reporter cal mccaffrey, whose street smarts lead him to untangle a mystery of murder and collusion among some of the nation's most promising political and corporate figures, in state of play, from acclaimed director kevin macdonald the last king of scotland.handsome, unflappable u.s. Congressman stephen collins ben affleck is the future of his political party an honourable appointee who serves as the chairman of a committee overseeing defence spending. All eyes are upon the rising star to be his party's contender for the upcoming presidential race, until his research assistant mistress is brutally murdered and buried secrets come tumbling out.mccaffrey has the dubious fortune of both an old friendship with collins and a ruthless editor, cameron oscar winner helen mirren, who has assigned him to investigate. As he and partner della rachel mcadams try to uncover the killer's identity, mccaffrey steps into a cover up that threatens to shake the nation's power structures. And in a town of spin doctors and wealthy politicians, he will discover one truth when billions are at stake, no one's integrity, love or life is ever safe. Running time 127 minutes region region 2 subtitles arabic danish czech finnish hungarian icelandic norwegian swedish release date 04 04 2011