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On the morning of a new Congressional hearing led by popular congressman Stephen Collins (Ben Affleck) the lead Research Assistant falls in front of a train on her way to the hearings. Old style news reporter for the Washington Globe Cal McAffrey (Russell Crowe), investigating a shooting of a petty thief thinks there may be a connection because his seasoned hunches as a reporter just tell him so. His old college roommate Congressman Collins is taking a high-profile position as a champion against a private corporation called PointCorp which will have taps on the entire workings of American phones, e-mails, and all private information. As the story breaks of the death of the Research Assistant so does the congressman break in public, shedding tears and generating rumors that he was having an affair with the young thing from Minnesota. When the Washington Globe’s blogger newbie college grad Della Frye (Rachel McAdams) approaches McAffrey for an opinion about his former dorm buddy Collins, she is immediately told to get lost by the old-school reporter, but after looking over the coincidences, McAffrey pulls Frye into his investigation and reporting of how murder and PointCorp may be threatening Collins. As the two get deeper into the facts they realize that there is a structured network of former soldiers that have been trained into a mercenary group-for-hire and now are employed by a division of the corporation Collins is questioning in Congress. As Della learns how to get a story from the inside from the old pro McAffrey the story develops and exposes corruption on a much deeper level than was initially seen. What is more shocking is that a murderer is attempting to keep the story from breaking and McAffrey and Frye are in his sights. -spelvini

A thief is fleeing through Washington DC at night and is killed with a silenced gun by a man carrying a briefcase. The killer shoots a pizza delivery man who sees the incident and is left in a coma. The next day, a young woman is killed by a subway train in an apparent suicide. Congressman Stephen Collins (Affleck) is distraught to hear the news, as the woman was Sonia, a lead researcher on his staff. Collins, who has military experience, is leading an investigation into PointCorp, a private defense contractor with controversial operations involving mercenaries. Reporter Cal McAffrey (Crowe) was a college roommate of Collins, and the two discuss Sonia’s death. Collins reveals that he had been having an affair with Sonia, and that Sonia had sent him a cheerful video message on the morning of her death, which he believes is inconsistent behavior for someone about to commit suicide. Della Frye (McAdams), a colleague of Cal, discovers that Sonia’s death occurred in one of only three CCTV blind spots on the metro platform. Cal believes the shootings are related to Sonia’s death and finds a link between the thief and a homeless girl who sought out Cal. She gives him photographs that the thief, a friend of hers, stole from the killer’s briefcase. The photos show surveillance images of Sonia talking to a well-dressed man. Della visits the hospital where the pizza delivery man is regaining consciousness. She bumps into a man while exiting an elevator. She sees the pizza man in his hospital bed shot dead by an unseen sniper. Distraught, she returns to her newspaper’s office and reviews CCTV footage; she recognises the man she bumped into at the hospital on the footage from the metro platform and at the elevator in the hospital. Cal asks a connection he has inside PointCorp to find information regarding the man. He reveals that PointCorp stands to gain $40 billion annually from its mercenary activities in the Middle East and domestically. Cal speaks with Collins, who shares his research findingsPointCorp is cooperating with other defense contractors to create a monopoly and purchase Government surveillance and defense contracts, essentially privatizing United States security. Cal’s PointCorp insider returns with the address of someone linked to the suspected assassin. Cal visits the address to find the assassin living there. Terrified, Cal makes an excuse and tries to leave. Stalked by the man, Cal calls the police who arrive and force the man to disappear after he shoots at Cal. Della, following a lead, finds the identity of the well-dressed man speaking to Sonia in the photographsa PR executive working for a subsidiary of PointCorp. Cal blackmails him into talking about his activities with Sonia, and secretly tapes their conversation. He reveals that Sonia was paid to spy on Collins for PointCorp, but that she loved Collins and was pregnant with his baby when she was killed. Before Cal’s newspaper goes to press, Collins goes on record to present his research into PointCorp. Cal notices Collins’ wife knows more about Sonia than he thought, and rushes to Collins’ office to speak with him. Collins reveals that he had been suspicious of Sonia, and that he hired the assassin to watch her. The assassin is Corporal Bingham, a former military colleague of Collins’, whose life Collins had once saved. Collins says that Bingham didn’t trust Sonia and killed her with no authorization from him. Cal goes to his car where he is confronted by Bingham, who says he will kill for a friend. Cal ducks, and federal officers shoot Bingham before he opens fire. At the office, Cal and Della type up their story and depart together. The film credits roll with footage of the newspaper being printed.

One of Afleck’s better moments.

Rating: 4.3 out of 5