The Independent Film Forum: 12. State of Play

Our film forum is your chance to pass judgement on a recent release. Here's a selection of your views on Kevin Macdonald's remake of the BBC drama.

Morgan W: A really satisfying thriller, which also provides some food for thought on broader political topics like the future of news. Kevin Macdonald, the writers and editors have all done a fantastic job of compressing the six-hour original into two hours of plausible, comprehensible drama. The music deserves special mention, too, for ratcheting up the tension at every turn.

MJ Rundle: It had a really nice pace and a good storyline. I don't imagine it was a particularly realistic portrayal of the way journalism truly is in many ways. I also was a little disappointed by some of the acting; particularly Ben Affleck (who I usually like) and Helen Mirren as the angry boss was really hammy.

Chicunique: This film belongs to the clever and crumpled character that is Cal McAffrey, the surprisingly sweet journalist played brilliantly by Russell Crowe, the swoonmonger of yesteryear. I won't beat around the eucalyptus bush when I say that his appearance is disappointing but when he speaks, you can still hear the roar of a batallion of unbridled testosterone marching on a gravel dirt track lined with silk and honey; no amount of good living can eradicate that. Helen Mirren is comfortably typecast in the role of ballbreaker to rival Stephen Hendry's snooker cue – a woman in a man's world – so no surprises there. Curiously, Rachel McAdams is the only member of the female cast who does not have any sexual chemistry with Cal – strange for such a pretty young girl.

SB Whan: A major disappointment, unfortunately. There has been a lot of hype and talk about this film but I didn't think it added up to much at all. Granted, it was very slickly made and well produced, with a nice gloss and frantic music to make it fly by. A fairly standard issue Hollywood film. It didn't really raise any major issue in a serious way, it just scratched at the surface a little.

Next week The next film up for discussion in the Independent Film Forum will be 'X-Men Origins: Wolverine'. Does Gavin Hood's new superhero flick with Hugh Jackman as Wolverine do justice to the Marvel original? Or was this a film too far for the franchise? Add your comments at www.independent.co.uk/filmforum and we'll print the best next week.