State and Main (2000)

The filmmakers who invade Vermont are patronizing, condescending and pig-headed...to the locals and to each other. Writer-director David Mamet gets in some good acerbic digs at show business and isn't afraid to make anyone and everyone look the fool. After all, it's only "just a movie" to us--to them, it's brain surgery at a cost. The cast seems to be having a great time, Alec Baldwin in particular. Philip Seymour Hoffman has never been so benign--and thats a good thing (what a nice change to see him relaxed, romantic and clean-cut). The picture isn't a barn-burner, it never crackles or builds comedic momentum like, say, "Tootsie", but it's a flip, funny, unfettered throwaway. **1/2 from ****

Fmovies: When Hollywood (with all its ruthlessness, immorality, and other R-rated-or-are-they characteristics) comes to an idealistic small town (with its farms, mom-and-pop stores, and other G-rated-or-are-they characteristics), what could possibly go wrong? The answer is, of course, everything. Director Walt Price (William H. Macy) is uptight, while star Bob Barrenger (Alec Baldwin) can't keep his zipper shut in the presence of local teenager Carla (Julia Stiles). Meanwhile, everyone in town wants a piece of the movie's action, and they won't easily be discouraged from getting it.

"State and Main" just might be David Mamet's funniest movie ever. Poking fun at both Tinseltown and the "ideal small town", he creates a story that's as biting as it is zany.

I have a question, though. Charles Durning plays Mayor George Bailey. Was that name a reference to Jimmy Stewart's character in "It's a Wonderful Life"?

Thrown out of their New Hampshire shooting location (for undisclosed misdeeds), a Hollywood film crew lands in a small Vermont town to finish their movie. Their funding rapidly diminishing, the harried producer, William H. Macy in an excellent performance, struggles to keep the crew together and the movie on track. David Mamet has populated his screenplay with an interesting mix of characters. Mostly they're a vain, greedy lot, either slaves to their passions or to money. But Mr. Mamet gives them plenty to say, and mischief to get into and out of, and all in all, it's a very entertaining, black comedy.

State and Main fmovies. In the pantheon of David Mamet's films, I'd say State and Main ranks somewhere in the middle, but it's a good middle. The rhythm and pace is more like a sitcom than a feature film, sharply edited and light on its feet and with a sort of whitebread jazz motif loitering in the background, but the cast is certainly above average, and Mamet's screenplay is very charming punctuated with some funny sub-plots and a few very good (maybe even great) one-liners.

The story concerns a film production crew, running out of money, who blows into the quaint provincial town of Waterford, Vermont on a location shoot after getting run out of New Hampshire (for reasons that are very hush-hush). The wellspring of much of the humor is in the byplay between the corruptness of the film people and the "purity" of the locals, who turn out to be as rotten as some of the Hollywood crowd. There are also some hilarious insides on the world of show-biz and film-making (i.e. the associate producer's credit, the product placement for a dot.com in a movie set in the 1800's, the cinematographer who can't get the shot he wants, Sarah Jessica Parker's character who finds religion and won't show her breasts in the film - unless the producers pay her an additional 800 grand).

Mamet is not quite in the Woody Allen class of gagwriting, but he proves to be assured and witty without being too self-consciously clever (as he is in "Heist"). Some favorite lines: "I remember my lines. I just don't remember which order they come in."; "You don't like children, do you?" "Never saw the point of 'em."; and, of course "Whatever happened to 1975?"

William H. Macy gives a good funny performance as the wheeler-dealer director (as good as his work in "Fargo" or "The Cooler"), and Philip Seymour Hoffman and Rebecca Pidgeon are wonderful as the would-be lovers. This is a not great, but a good middlebrow satire of different worlds, very pleasant and expertly written, though just not savage enough to be brutally memorable. 3 *** out of 4

The reviews of this film seem to be mixed and I am confused on how that can be? This is one of my favorite movies ever and may be the best (not slapstick, Chris Farley-esque comedy, but smart) comedy. You must pay attention to this movie to get the jokes, because most of them are running (as in recurring) jokes that pick up on items that may have been just mentioned once ("Go you Huskies!") and again and again and again and then are explained later as a tag-on in the dialogue. This basic comedy technique works on an early Mel Brooks type level and makes for a movie that should be watched many times in order to pick up everything, but is still (maybe even more) enjoyable after each viewing.

The writing is unquestionably the best comedy screenplay since those early Brooks films. It's just funny, but you have to pay attention. If you aren't listening to every line of dialogue, you will miss jokes, it is that simple. Each line is crucial to the script either as a story/plot building device or as a joke building device or both. There is not one wasted word in the script.

The cast is classic. Rebecca Pidgeon, Mamet's wife, plays the matter-of-fact-talking girl perfectly. She is the heart of the film and deserves praise for being able to perform that well. The other person that deserves high praise is William H. Macy. His performance is on par with his Fargo performance. He emits this sense of control as everything falls apart around him and delivers some excellent lines.

Baldwin gives a better than average performance, as does Durning and Hoffman and the rest of the cast is quite good.

The direction is great. The movie seems to last 15 minutes because it is that interesting and fast paced. The perceived fast pace is created by the actors saying their lines so quickly and crisply. This can only occur with a director that knows the script but since the script was written by the director, the point becomes moot. Everything else also flows so well and the credit for that has to be given to Mamet's directing and writing ability.

I really like this film. I like the way "The Old Mill" mirrors the actions of the actual film and how deep the film goes. This is like one of those classic novels that can be dissected in every way for symbolism and thought, which is quite rare in today's cinema. The film may be too smart for it's own good and may have overshot the general movie audience, but makes for a gem of a movie to watch. Mamet pulls no punches making fun of Hollywood by comparing it to small town America or more importantly Hollywood "values" to small town American values. Watch this movie if you want to think and be entertained, and if that doesn't sound appealing, please go find another movie to watch.

It's difficult to write an objective review about a film that I'm so enthusiastic about, but there's no getting around it-- I haven't been this excited about a movie in a long time, so I'll just forge ahead. The film is `State and Main,' written and directed by David Mamet, and arguably his best effort since 1987's `House Of Games.' When a movie company invades the sleepy hamlet of Waterford, Vermont, for a location shoot, complete with big name stars Bob Barrenger (Alec Baldwin) and Claire Wellesley (Sarah Jessica Parker) in tow, it creates quite a stir; and before it's over many of the townsfolk, as well as a few of those connected with the film, have learned some things about themselves-- and others-- they never knew before. Things about honesty, purity and the moral flexibility inherent in many of those who reside here on planet Earth. As a setting for the making of the film within the film-- which is about purity and second chances-- Mamet takes a page right out of Americana, complete with a Main Street, an historic firehouse, a quaint hostelry and even-- `maybe'-- an old mill on a stream. And in making a film about making a film about purity and second chances, he's made a film about purity and, well, second chances; a terrific character study that is forthright and sincere, and which rings with truth from beginning to end. It's as honest as it is real, and so accessible that it makes an instant connection with the audience. There are characters and situations here with which everyone will be able to identify in one way or another, all presented refreshingly and quite unpredictably. Just when you think you see something coming from a mile away, you're treated to one of those famous Mamet `twists' that take you exactly where you didn't think you were going. And Mamet does it so well that it's not only highly entertaining, but invigorating as well. The cast he put together for this film is superlative, beginning with William H. Macy as Walt Price, the director of the movie. A Mamet regular, Macy creates a character infused with that magic Mamet realism that helps establish the credibility of the film from the outset. Baldwin is perfectly cast as the `star' with certain insatiable appetites and recreational needs, as is Parker, as the actress with a sudden case of `issues' regarding her contractual obligations. And David Paymer does a solid turn as Marty Rossen, the producer of the film. But the two actors who really make this movie tick are the charismatic Rebecca Pidgeon, and the versatile, multi-talented Philip Seymour Hoffman. Pidgeon is absolutely captivating as Ann Black, the local who runs the book shop and directs the town's drama group (which includes just about everybody in Waterford, it seems). She's winsome and charming, with a directness and vigor that is stunning; and she captures the very essence of Ann-- the intelligence and the compassion-- and conveys it convincingly to the audience. It's a memorable performance, and one of the strengths (among many) of the movie. The real star of the show, however, is Hoffman, as Joseph Turner White, the writer of the movie. He gives an introspective performance filled with nuance and subtlety that is so real-- so pure-- that he single-handedly takes the film to a whole new level. Like Meryl Streep, Hoffman has that chameleon-like ability that enables him to be anyone and everyone, yet always unique; it's a quality with which few actors are endowed, and he uses his gift to