Tony Gilroy has been a busy man this year. He not only wrote and directed Duplicity (reviewed here last week) but co-wrote this week’s top DVD release, State of Play, as well. Kevin Macdonald’s film version of the 2003 British TV miniseries of the same name crosses the Atlantic, moving the location of the original story from London to Washington, D.C.

The film is good, and makes good use of its locations, but suffers in comparison to the miniseries, which had nearly six hours to develop its characters and tell its story. The film begins the same, two people are gunned down on the streets and a legislative aide falls to her death in front of a train on her way to work. A veteran newsman and a young reporter team up to connect the dots and expose the plot behind the seemingly unconnected killings. That’s the crux of it, with the film version ending a bit more optimistically as it ties up the loose ends left hanging by the miniseries.

The acting is a mixed bag. Ben Affleck as an influential congressman and Jeff Daniels as his boss, the majority whip, are first rate. Jason Bateman is also quite good as a duplicitous creep, and several supporting performances stand out – Josh Mostel chief among them, but the rest of the primary cast has done much better work elsewhere. Robin Wright Penn as Affleck’s wife merely looks miserable throughout and the actors representing the fourth estate don’t look like they work for the same organization, let alone belong in the same movie.

Russell Crowe’s long, unkempt hair and slovenly appearance, which he has maintained through several films of the last few years, are a distraction. Rachel McAdams’ deer-caught-in-the-headlights character looks like she should be playing Crowe’s daughter, not his colleague. Worst of all, the usually sublime Helen Mirren, playing the tough-as-nails editor, threatens credulity with her elegant appearance and potty mouth, an incongruous combination.

It’s certainly worth spending a couple of hours with, but if you want to see a really absorbing crime thriller, I recommend the miniseries, which I previously reviewed here last May, instead.

State of Play, the movie, is available on Blu-ray and standard DVD. State of Play, the miniseries, is available on standard DVD only.

A really pleasant surprise, Greg Mottola’s coming-of-age comedy-drama Adventureland features nice performances by Jesse Eisenberg and Kristen Stewart as teenagers who meet while working the midway in an amusement park during the summer of 1987. The soundtrack features David Bowie, The Cure, INXS and Lou Reed, artists who were popular a few years earlier, but who’s counting?

A wistful, gentler version of Carny (reviewed here last week), the film features Ryan Reynolds in the role of Eisenberg’s mentor and Stewart’s seducer. Eisenberg, who was unforgettable in Roger Doger and The Squid and the Whale seems to be cornering the market on brainy teenagers these days, while Stewart who was equally memorable in Into the Wild and Twilight seems to be cornering the market on intelligent young girl roles.

Adventureland is available on Blu-ray and standard DVD.

A nice surprise from the Warner Archives is Robert Ellis Miller’s 1966 film of Muriel Resnick’s Any Wednesday. Eschewing the usual smarminess of mid-1960s sex comedies, this one features charming performances by Jane Fonda as a “nice girl” who nevertheless becomes the mistress of a petulant executive played by Jason Robards and almost ends up married to him with the approval of his first wife, played by Rosemary Murphy reprising her Tony-nominated Broadway role. Dean Jones is the hick from the sticks you know is going to end up with Janie in the end.

The film has some nice New York locations, including shots of the city during a blackout. The only downside is that although the film stars Jane Fonda, you keep thinking you’re watching Sandy Dennis. That’s because Fonda is constantly being directed to channel Dennis who created the role on Broadway. Her quirky mannerisms and facial expressions, her propensity to burst into tears at the slightest provocation, are all there. If you can get past that, you’ll enjoy it.

Less captivating is another Warner Archive release from the mid-sixties. Made just two years later, Jerry Paris’ film How Sweet It Is!, from a novel by the same Muriel Resnick,is the kind of film Any Wednesday worked so hard not to be. It’s a smarmy, only intermittently funny conceit centered on a middle-aged American couple who take a company-paid trip to the French Riviera and end up with their teenage son in a French bordello, or is it an Italian bordello? By the time they get there, you won’t care, you’ll just want to leave.

The screenplay, co-written by Garry Marshall at his worst, doesn’t know when to stop playing the same gag over and over again, like the opening of Debbie Reynolds’ overcoat to reveal the skimpy bikini underneath, which supposedly turns on all Frenchmen. James Garner plays her husband and Maurice Ronet her would-be French lover. Marcel Dalio is amusing as a perplexed butler, but Paul Lynde and Terry-Thomas who receive co-star billing have little to do.

On the TV front, the spate of releases of last season’s shows continues in anticipation of the new one.

A cult hit that people seem to either love or hate, Supernatural: The Complete Fourth Season has been released. If you’re unfamiliar with this one, it’s about a pair of brothers played by Jared Padalecki and Jensen Ackles who carry on the family business of “hunting” ghosts and other supernatural phenomena. Personally I came to this show late, having recently devoured the first three seasons and am now happily into the fourth.

People seem to love or hate this show. Apparently if you like Lost, 24 or Heroes you’re not supposed to like Supernatural . Maybe that’s why I like it. I gave up on Lost midway into the first season – too convoluted for me. I didn’t watch 24 until the fifth season but found the sixth a letdown and never went back to the first four. I was intrigued by the first season of Heroes but found the second ridiculous and haven’t watched since. Supernatural is easy to follow and stays true to its characters. It’s often violent but a little less on the gore scale than True Blood and doesn’t play tricks on its audience like Ghost Whisperer.

In the fourth season opener, an angel pulls older brother Dean Winchester (Ackles) from the bowels of Hell. He returns to the living to find Sam (Padalecki) slipping further and further to the dark side. In the meantime the individual episodes are filled with humor, mystery and an occasional touch of romance. The two lead actors continue to work well together. Why both, especially Ackles, haven’t become bigger stars remains the biggest mystery of all.

Supernatural: The Complete Fourth Season is available on Blu-ray and standard DVD.

Another show that people seem to love or hate is Brothers & Sisters, the third season of which has also been released. Since Sunday night is the only night I regularly watch TV, I’ve been hooked since the very first episode. I cheered Sally Field when she won the Emmy the first year and was happy to see her nominated again the second and third years. Sadly, Rachel Griffiths, who is equally fine, has not been nominated this year, though she was nominated the first two. None of the other actors have been nominated in any of the seasons, though some of them, particularly Ron Rifkin, Matthew Rhys and Dave Annable provide consistently strong work.

Brothers & Sisters: The Complete Third Season is available on standard DVD only.

-Peter J. Patrick (September 1, 2009)