The idea behind this feature (Genre Guesstimation) is for me to watch a bunch of new movies (or ones that I haven’t seen many times) from the chosen monthly GG genre in order to expand my knowledge of movies within that particular genre.
This month’s Genre has been chosen by Tony of Coog’s Reviews and it is Political Thrillers.
Please get me your submissions by the 25th of June by sending them to polithrilltony@movierob.net
Try to think out of the box!
Let’s see if I felt that this movie would be worthy of being in the company of my others favorite movies in the genre of Political Thrillers.…
“You’re just seeking the truth. You’re a truth seeker. You can’t help it, that is just who you are. You’re such a hypocrite. You’re not interested in me. You come in here, it’s all about you and you getting your story. I trusted you. You’re my friend! You were supposed to be my friend anyway. ” – Rep. Stephen Collins
Number of Times Seen – 2 (16 Aug 2009 and 5 June 2018)
Brief Synopsis – An investigative reporter tries to find out who murdered a congressional aide who was working for his old friend who now works as a Congressman.
My Take on it – This is a really fun and intriguing political thriller that does a great job of slowly revealing clues little by little along the way.
They manage to use both the field of politics and journalism effectively as they try and balance the two.
The cast of this film is superb and Russel Crowe, Ben Affleck, Rachel McAdams, Helen Mirren and Robin Wright Penn are all great here.
This storyline is filled with lots of fun twists and turns along the way that help to effectively raise the level of tension and suspense as things move forward.
Really liked how they reveal clues to both the characters and the audience at the same time so that we don’t have to feel omniscient.
The problem with this film is that the final third loses the momentum built up earlier and just isn’t as effective as the rest of it was which obviously takes away from a satisfying finale since it limps across the finish line instead of sprinting like the first 2/3 did.
Bottom Line – Really intriguing political thriller that does a great job of slowly revealing clues along the way. Crowe, Affleck, McAdams and Wright are all great here. The twists and turns along the way are quite effective in raising the level of suspense over and over as we are given clue by clue along with the characters themselves. The final third of the film isn’t as effective and iot actually loses some of its momentum when it limps towards the finale. Recommended!
MovieRob’s Favorite Trivia – Kevin Macdonald intended the movie to pay homage to All the President’s Men (1976) by using the Watergate Hotel, and the parking garage as locations. (From IMDB)
Genre Grandeur Worthy? – Almost. Quite effective political thriller that loses its footing during the final 1/3 of the film.
Rating – Globe Worthy (7/10)
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MovieRob 
The TV series it’s adapted from is far superior.
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hmmm. maybe ill check that out one day
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As a (nearly) native Pittsburgher, I kept getting distracted by Crowe’s accent, but I agree that this is a rather underrated film. Definitely concur with the film losing momentum towards the end though
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i can understand the accent thing 🙂
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