By Lubna Abdel-Aziz In today's society ethics is a rare, elusive, mercurial, flexible virtue, especially in politics and regrettfully in journalism. Whether at odds or in collusion, they live off each other, draw heavily from each and depend wholly on each other. While it is an acknowledged fact that politicians would say or do anything to be elected, journalists used to be held to a higher standard. There was a time when the integrity, objectivity and sincerity of journalists was above suspicion -- or was it? Their original premise in pursuit of truth, reporting facts, fair and unbiased, is passé. With TV news flooding the air waves as well as our eyes and ears, fact and fiction mingle, and the result that reaches us, is the opinion of the person or the organization or corporation presenting it. The written word had retained some credibility, now it s rapidly diminishing, even in serious publications in favor of the personal scandals and the shocking headlines. The BBC tackled that murky world of high-powered politics and ethics in journalism in its much acclaimed mini series, State of Play (2003), written by Paul Abbott. To many critics this was the best piece of work that television ever produced. With the shortage of original ideas for the cinema, little time was lost in transforming the six-hour series into a 2-hour movie. The setting was switched from London to Washington DC, but the memorable characters and wrenching twists and turns of the complex plot remained intact. Russell Crowe heads the cast as the raunchy newspaperman, torn between the loyalty of an old friend in high places (Ben Affleck) and his fidelity to his profession. Crowe is considered one of the best actors of his generation. Some regard him as one of the few accomplished actors on the screen -- they do not come any better, for sure. He has that special ability to negate self in favor of the character. He does not portray, he becomes. Who can forget the Beautiful Mind (2001) of John Nash, Nobel Prize winning mathematician, plagued by schizophrenia and genius? Crowe provides the screen with some of its most poignant moments, depicting the slowly awkward and delusional Nash, It was the same Crowe who only two years earlier had awed us as the great Roman general Maximus who becomes a Gladiator (2000). He first burst on the international film scene as the seedy, brutal cop Bud White in L.A. Confidential (1999). But film was nothing new to him. Several years of film and television work in Australia, as well as touring with a rock group gave him a solid foundation. He was sensational as the terrifying gunslinger, in The Quick and the Dead (1994) overshadowing not only Ms. Stone but also Leonardo di Caprio, combined. He then joined Denzel Washington in Virtuosity (1995) as a man possessed by the spirits of multiple murderers, which led to LA Confidential and an Oscar nomination. Russell Crowe was born in Strathmore, a suburb of Wellington, New Zealand. At age 4 he moved with his parents to Australia where he still lives on a large farm with his wife and two sons. His grandfather was an award-winning cinematographer in WWII. His parents were film set caterers, had Russell acting at age 6. He never stopped. Once in Hollywood his star began rising rapidly. He captured, two Oscar nominations, one Oscar win and several Golden Globes, BAFTAs, and many other awards. He galvanized critics but made few friends, and was known as a man with a temper: "demanding on the set," "starting fist fights," "even pulled a pistol on a stylist." He will say and do what he pleases without rhyme or reason, except his own. The embodiment of John Nash, a tortured mathematician going mad, was a bravura performance in A Beautiful Mind (2001) . He deserved an Oscar, was nominated and favored to win, but for a brawl at the BAFTA in London. He lost his temper and public popularity which cost him his second Oscar win. Anyone who saw John Nash struggling with his demons, obsessed with paranoid visions, still managing to win a Nobel Prize, knows that this masterful piece of work was Oscar bound. Yet the gentle-mannered Denzel Washington took the gold home for Training Day an easily forgettable film and performance. It was the politically correct thing to do, but the Academy committed one more gross error. It did not stop Crowe from commanding a higher paycheck and becoming one of the best actors alive. His profession may be 'acting,' his talent is 'not acting'; Crowe becomes the character, leaving an indelible image of the person he embodies. Not too many stars have that ability. Who else could have been the Gladiator, and is there any other John Nash than Russell Crowe! Now he brings to life Cal McAffrey a reporter of the Washington Globe, tormented by circumstances over which he has no control. His ethical dilemma is choosing between loyalty to friends or duty to his profession and conscience. Critically acclaimed as one of the best movies of the year, State of Play is an expose of the current political scene, of how politics manipulates the media, and how the media manipulates us. Director Kevin McDonald ( The Last King of Scotland ) is credited for bringing back the political thriller genre so skillfully created by the BBC. Crowe's fans look forward to one more master performance by an actor who single-handedly changed the perception of the ideal man. Edging Hollywood's pretty boys, tackling one role after another with authenticity and aplomb, Crowe is the image of what every man should be, what every woman desires, what every actor dreams of becoming. In our search for the best we follow that elusive element of supreme creativity which belongs to Russell Crowe. Having been fascinated by the gladiator, the scientist, and the cop, we can hardly wait to meet the bedeviled newspaperman trying to keep afloat in a sea of trouble and political corruption. Journalism has already come to be the first power in the land -- Samuel Bowles (1826-1878)
