Two current movies, “State of Play” starring Russell Crowe and “The Soloist,” starring Robert Downey Jr. and Jamie Fox, show reporters going to heroic lengths in pursuit of community service.
Russell Crowe in 'State of Play.' Photo: Universal |
Crowe is in hot, driven pursuit of facts that may unearth an illegal conspiracy that involves murder, while Downey devotes himself to helping a talented, although schizophrenic, musician who lives among the homeless in Los Angeles.
The Los Angeles Times is shown as the paper Downey works for, while Crowe works for what could be the Washington Post although a different name is used.
The picture indicates that both papers are financially stressed.
Crowe fights with his editor who wants him to make a series out of a story that he does not want printed until all elements have been gathered.
Downey is accused of wasting his time with a homeless person.
Journalists will be aghast at some of the unethical techniques used by Crowe in pursuing his story including bullying a PR person.
Crowe tricks the PR person, who heads a powerful firm, into going to a hotel room where a camera has been set up to secretly record the interview. Crowe then uses the interview to force facts out of another person involved in a conspiracy.
Robert Downey Jr. in 'The Soloist.' Photo: DreamWorks |
Jayson Bateman, playing the PR person, is “skittishly brilliant as a cynical public-relations guy who panics when he realizes he has got in over his head,” said the New Yorker review by David Denby.
Crowe, with hair down to his shoulders and generally unkempt, looks like one of the homeless in The Soloist. Unshaven Downey also dresses in casual clothes.
Journalists were portrayed negatively in two movies of recent years—“Scoop” and “Thank You for Smoking.”
In Scoop, a college reporter played by Scarlet Johannsen lies about her name, her age, her occupation and sleeps with news sources, rummaging through their belongings while they sleep.
In Thank You for Smoking, a reporter played by Katie Holmes sleeps with a news source and then blows his cover in an article. |