Well. Take Kevin Macdonald(Director : The last king of scotland), Russel Crowe, Ben Affleck, Helen Mirren, Rachel Mcadams in a political drama. What do you expect? A Cracker of a movie. Thats where the problem is, the movie in isolation is pretty good. Gripping performances, A Tight Script, Nice Technicals, Everything (Almost).. But still lacks that special 'feel'. So turns out to be another above average movie.
Plotwise, its a political thriller about a rising congressman (affleck) and an investigative journalist (russel) embroiled in a case of brutal murders, with the usual twists and turns, add to that a few surprises (which are not the usual over the top or 'Wattt,Oh come on' types). The congressman talks about morality but is cheating on his wife!! It also deals with the ethical dilemma that crowe goes through while segregating his professional and personal lives.
Performance wise, No surprises here. Russel delivers a powerpacked performance. His grip on all the characters he plays is just unbelievable. Maybe we are seeing another pacino or brando in the making. Ben is the usual 'okay' kinds and there are no others who actually stir up any emotions.
Technically, i think Kevin has done a Fab job in not going over the top in terms of anything from camera work to lighting or anything else. The shots are crisp and close. Another point worth mentioning is the background score that moves in tandem with the movie's pace and actually facilitates the narration.
Overall, a 'pretty good' movie, which neither stirs up any emotions or is path breaking in any way. The usual 'good movie' types. I dont even know if its been released in India or not. So Grab a DVD if you can. A one time must watch
Feel-O-Meter: 7/10