Comparing and Contrasting State of Play UK and USA
A Comparison of Key Details in the BBC and U.S. Versions
May 30, 2009
Back in 2003, the BBC produced a six-part series called State of Play. It starred David Morrissey and John Simm as MP Stephen Collins and journalist Cal McCaffrey, and centred around two murders that ultimately led to corporate malfeasance and a government cover-up.
In April of 2009, a feature-length film version of State of Play was released, starring Ben Affleck as Congressman Stephen Collins, and Russell Crowe as reporter Cal McAffrey.
State of Play: A Comparison Between the Series and the Film - Characters
In the BBC series, McCaffrey had been Collins’s campaign manager during his run for Parliament. In the film, McAffrey is Collins’s old college roommate. The American version makes more sense in terms of the story – a lifelong, dogged reporter like McAffrey doesn’t seem like the type who’d play for the opposing team – but the age difference between Affleck and Crowe makes the back story a bit harder to swallow.
In the English version, McCaffrey is aided by a number of reporters, including Della Smith (Kelly Macdonald) and freelancer Dan Foster (James McAvoy) who is the son of editor Cameron Foster (Bill Nighy). Although young, the two are tenacious and persuasive, and make great contributions to the investigation.
In the American version, McAvoy’s character is eliminated, and Macdonald’s is now perky blogger Della Frye (Rachel McAdams), who can write up a storm but is barely qualified to call herself a reporter. Cameron Foster has become Cameron Lynne (Helen Mirren) a severely reduced role.
State of Play: A Plot Comparison
Collins is the head of an independent government panel – in the U.K., he is looking at oil companies, in the U.S. he is investigating a Blackwater-esque private militia – and his lead researcher, Sonia Baker, dies on the same day as an inner-city bag-snatcher is shot. Seemingly unrelated, the two deaths are proved to be connected by both Cals. In the mini-series, the government looks like the bad guy; in the film, it’s a corporation that’s the biggest villain.
In the U.K. version, more attention is paid to the legality of the reporters’ investigation, and Foster’s under pressure to avoid embarrassing the government. In the U.S. version, Lynne’s pressure is that print journalism is dying.
That’s an aspect of the story the BBC version could have addressed. The English reporters compete with other newspapers. Television and web sites are mentioned in passing but they’re never considered a serious threat. And while Foster has to worry about his budget, there’s no sense that his industry is collapsing around him. This is a blinkered view of the job even by 2003 standards; in 2009, it looks ridiculously dated.
Another altered plotline is the relationship between Cal and Collins’s wife Anne (Polly Walker in the U.K., Robin Wright Penn in the U.S.). Crowe’s McAffrey has had a past relationship with Anne and is still carrying a torch; Simm’s McCaffrey only gets involved with Anne once her husband’s affair becomes public.
As the English Cal and Anne only knew each other from stuffing envelopes during the campaign, it’s odd that she would reach out to him in a crisis. It’s even odder that Foster would not take Cal off the story once the relationship came to light. In a North American newsroom, that would be an unacceptable conflict of interest.
The final twist that reveals the centre of the mystery makes more sense in the BBC rendering, and over all, both versions are satisfying, well-acted thrillers. But those who cavil at American adaptations of British hits have nothing to complain about here. The difference is solely in style, not in quality.
