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. Washington DC reporter Cal McCaffrey s nose for news leads him to untangl

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.

Washington DC reporter Cal McCaffrey's nose for news leads him to untangle a mystery of murder and collusion among some of the nation's most promising political and corporate figures.

Handsome, unflappable Congressman Stephen Collins (Ben Affleck) is the future of his political party, serving 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 is an old friend of Collins and his ruthless editor (Helen Mirren) assigns 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.

The Last King of Scotland director Kevin Macdonald directs STATE OF PLAY (15), based on the acclaimed 2003 BBC TV series by Paul Abbott.

Macdonald says: "When I saw State of Play on TV, I absolutely loved it. Like everybody in Britain loved it, and it won every award going.

"Five years later, I was sent a script. I was intrigued by it, but initially suspicious, as I loved the series so much. I thought: 'It's six hours long. How can I make it into two hours?'

"Part of the way we got around that was that we changed it rather radically. Although the basic story is the same, there's a lot that's very different about it.

"You realise you can't make another version of something that was good. You have to reinvent, and that's what we've tried to do."

Crowe was interested in how his character could not be 100 per cent objective, as he was investigating a murder case in which a good friend was implicated: "I see Cal as a human who has one train of thought, and that pushes him into action.

"But it's not heroism - he's doing what he feels he should do on behalf of his friend. So, right from the beginning of the story, his point of view is polluted.