State and Main (2000)

Rebecca Pidgeon (Mamet's wife) has never been so winsome, nor Philip Seymour Hoffman so innocent. It is light fare, but the dialogue, thanks to Mamet's talent, nonetheless has an edge and intelligence missing from most romantic comedies.The Hollywood crew, post-Entourage, seems almost dated, though David Paymer does a good job of seeming tough while remaining surprisingly vulnerable. Clark Gregg, on the town side, does an under-appreciated job of playing the jilted fiancé and future corrupt politician.Contrasting this 10-year-old film with nonsense like (500) Days of Summer, you can see the difference between good light comedy and bad light comedy. Pidgeon and Hoffman at least hint at complexities of character that make their relationship an interesting prospect.

I have, for seven years, been waiting to see this film. I always tell the story about the time I went with some friends to the cinema and convinced everyone to watch this film and once inside the theater everyone wanted to go because they didn't like what they were watching but I wanted to stay because I liked it very much. And because I think there's a time for movies and that they arrive when they arrive, I have just found David Mamet's "State and Main" and, luckily, I've liked it very much. Of course, it's a special movie, but not in the sense that it's not for everyone. It's an easy-going movie, with a clear and simple plot line, nice sceneries and a cinematography that doesn't take any risks; but I could merely recommend, with enthusiasm, that everyone who watches assume a commitment. What do I mean by this? Well, that if you pay more attention than usual you should really enjoy it. The thing is that "State and Main" is a movie about a movie, and it's written by David Mamet, fact that naturally makes it not 'any' movie about a movie. I'll take a risk and say that this is based on one of Mamet's plays (I don't know that for a fact), because it looks very theatrical, but with the exceptional cast (by genius Avy Kaufman) and Theodore Shapiro's shifting score, we quickly forget about it. We don't forget, however, what may originally have come from a play; and that's Mamet's use of language. From scene one, where a doctor encounters a patient on the street and Walt (William H. Macy) argues with his team about the place they've ended up in, the writer/director establishes a style in his screenplay that we feel throughout the whole ride and contains certain characteristics: sharp, witty, direct, humorous and, at surprising times, reflexive and profound. Walt is a director who comes to shoot a film to Waterford, Vermont; the place they've ended up in: the middle of nowhere. The fact that Waterford is a little town where everyone has a big smile on their faces and don't seem to have problems (Julia Stiles' perfect working teenager; Rebecca Pidgeon's kind and loving Annie; Charles Durning's mayor), helps to establish a contrast with the neurotic director and his Hollywood crew: the manipulative and unstoppable producer Marty (a wonderful David Paymer); the popular star with a 'thing' for minors Bob (the role Alec Baldwin knows by heart); the pretty and stupid popular actress (Sarah Jessica Parker, in the role that suits her quite well); and the character with which you should implement my recommendation of paying attention: the creative, insecure writer of the film, Joe, played by the Great Philip Seymour Hoffman. Stereotypes? Why not some of them? But Manet is so gifted that, instead of assuming a character is stereotyped, he gives them lines for us to recognize, through their personality, the stereotype they represent. This sound simple, but it's not. It's the same I try to say about "State and Main": it looks simple, and it can be; but it doesn't have to be if you want it to. If you want, you can put yourselves in Joe the writer's position and try to figure out the truth, whatever it may be. If you want, you can enter as an outsider to the world of making a film and what it has to offer; to the political aspirations and perspectives of a little town; to the tradition and the stories and the sense of home of a little town. Mamet knows all of these things, and here sometimes he takes a stand; he sometimes mocks, other times he praises, most of the time he makes no sense at all, but all the time he's showing these things to us, in any form you may want to take them. And what's what cinema essentially does?

I usually find movies about the film industry to be somewhat tedious and self-indulgent; "Adaptation" comes to mind as an example. "State and Main" breaks the mold as it light-heartedly pokes fun at the film industry, small town life, and a half-dozen other sacred cows. It also has a sweet side, with charmingly bumbling script-writer Joseph Turner White (Philip Seymour Hoffman) finding both romance and a second lease on innocence. It's great to see the talented Mr. Hoffman cast as a romantic lead, even if his character is simultaneously made an object of sport. Spot-on (if necessarily caricatured) performances by William H. Macy, David Paymer, Alec Baldwin, Sarah Jessica Parker, Julia Stiles, Clark Gregg, and Michael Higgins multiply the laughs. It looks like the cast had fun making this film; I hope they did!

Clever, quotable, and funny David Mamet's dialogue is loved by performers because of its literate substance. "State and Main" like "Day for Night" is a look on the inside of the very crazy business of putting together a film and there are some real funny gems in this flic. Mamet's characters are always after something, and the reason he is so popular with actors is his ability to write very "playable" lines. The DVD of "State and Main" a rare comedy from the writer/director has a wonderful ensemble of actors presenting a wacky and at times cock-eyed version of the film-making world. Anyone who has ever worked on an independent film crew will find a rueful pleasure in the characterizations auteur Mamet gains from his actors. The story is about a film crew on location directed by Walt Price (William H. Macy) in the back woods of Waterford, Vermont having been run out of another town in New Hampshire for murky salacious reasons, but it is hinted that lead actor Bob Barrenger (Alex Baldwin) may have had some sort of personal tryst with a young (very young... below the age of consent) citizen. Walt Price has to find a location to fit the title of the film he's directing, "The Old Mill", and this town reportedly has such a landmark. After the film rents out the hotel and sets up shop, they find out that the old mill of the town that is listed in historic literature for the area was burned down in the 1970s as part of some rumored conspiracy, one that actually was responsible for the forming of the Waterford Huskies, the local fire department. The screenwriter Joseph Turner White (Phillip Seymour Hoffman) is brought in for rewrites. He is eclectic- only writes with an actual typewriter, and goes to the local resale shop to find one. There he meets Ann Black the owner of the shop and through their love for "theatre" (she has a copy of White's fist real stage play), they form an attraction for each other and begin to fall in love. Love in this world is a brittle thing, but not beyond the grasp of two kindred souls like Ann and Joseph, and amidst all the shenanigans, their relationship is something that weathers the test of any and all conflicts. This screwball comedy escalates to a fast and furious pace as Barrenger hooks up with youngster waitress Carla (Julia Stiles), and is ultimately arrested for child abuse by Ann's fiancée and local politician Doug McKenzie (Clark Gregg) seeking a trophy for his climb up the local political mountain. Added to this lead actress Claire Wellesley (Sarah Jessica Parker) refuses a nude scene that she agreed to do to make the film, and producer Mary Rossen (David Paymer) has to finagle some way to appease her and get his lead actor Barrenger out of jail, while also attempting to attach post-modern product placement into a period film dated in the 1800s. It all comes to a head, but happily for the pure of heart Ann Black and Joseph Turner White, and ultimately the film goes into production with the entire town turning our for extra work and emotional support for the crew and those involved. It's all tongue-in-cheek with many a laughable moments generated from the performances, the dialogue, and this ideas that Mamet generates about the film industry and an alternate culture to be reviled as well as honored for many of the same reasons. A few of the really good lines: (there are many more punctuated by sight gags!) - Walt Price: "It's not a lie. It's a gift for fiction." Joseph Turner White: "What's an associate producer credit?" Bill Smith: "It's what you give to your secretary instead of a raise." Bob Barrenger: "I know my lines. … I just don't know what order they come in." And a great line that gets tossed around by just about every character as an exclamation point to something they've just said – "Go you Huskies!" I would recommend that any film student see this as class assignment in their first year of film school, because it brings up many of the actual issues that a film company faces when making a movie, and pokes fun at them at the same time. Mamet has the unique ability to craft very quotable lines and this film has plenty of them and very well placed, interacting with visual cues. One of the best scenes is with William Macy and Sarah Jessica Parker in the director and actrees moment in the "Eleonora Duse" scene in the cramped bathroom.