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State and Main
Movie Stats & Links |
| Starring: |
Alec Baldwin,
Philip Seymour Hoffman, William H. Macy, Sarah Jessica
Parker, Rebecca Pidgeon, Julia Stiles |
| MPAA Rated: |
R |
| Released By: |
Fine
Line Features |
| Web Site: |
www.stateandmain.com
& www.oldmillmovie.com |
| Kiddie Movie: |
Nah, mostly adult
jokes. |
| Date Movie: |
She might find it
funny and like the love story. |
| Gratuitous Sex: |
Hinted at. |
| Gratuitous
Violence: |
Nah. |
| Action: |
A car crash. |
| Laughs: |
Lots. |
| Memorable
Scene: |
None in
particular. |
| Memorable
Quote: |
"How are we
coming with the dead horse scene?"
"You can't actually kill the horse."
"Oh, fuck me!" |
| Directed By: |
David Mamet |
| Produced By: |
Sarah Green |
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State and Main
A Movie Review |
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The crew for "The Old Mill" make their way
to a quaint Vermont town, banished from their previous New Hampshire
location, and think things couldn’t be better. The town flyer
shows the perfect old mill for the old mill scene, the town is
perfect except for the stained glass window in the firehouse, the
townsfolk are perfect extras for the film, and the filmmakers should
be able to finish their movie without going too far over budget.
They set up shop, set up their schedule, and then the bomb drops –
the old mill burned down. Not last night, not last week, but in
1960. Such goes filmmaking and such goes "State and Main."
"State and Main" was funny as long as you don’t take
it too seriously, and there is no reason you should. The film pokes
fun at Hollywood, pokes fun at small town life, pokes fun at
overpaid actors and actresses, and even throws in a nice love story.
So our cast of characters now has a problem – they have to
rewrite "The Old Mill" so that there isn’t an old mill,
and that may be the least of their problems. There is the problem of
the lead actor, Bob (Alec Baldwin), who has a hobby of hanging with
underage girls (everyone has to have a hobby he professes); there is
the problem of the lead actress, Claire (Sarah Jessica Parker), who
won’t show her boobies even though it’s in her contract and most
of America could draw them with their eyes closed; there is the
problem of Joe (Philip Seymour Hoffman), the screenwriter, trying to
figure out how to write the old mill out of "The Old Mill"
while slowing falling in love with Ann (Rebecca Pidgeon) whose
fiancé, a dorky politician wannabe, decides that allowing the
filming to take place in the town shouldn’t be without its price;
and there is the problem of Carla (Julia Stiles) knowing Bob’s
hobby. Intertwine them all and you get a pretty funny flick.
The jokes are simple like the mixing up of the dinner date with
the mayor, Bob getting mixed up with Carla, everyone with a cell
phone, the townsfolk conversation shifting from problems with a
stoplight to daily grosses for Hollywood, and how they end up
incorporating a dot-com name into a movie set in the 1800’s. It’s
a movie where things don’t always jump out and scream at you, most
of the laughs are chucklers and not gut-busters, but in the end I
came out of "State and Main" enjoying the film.
If you want a cute film and can laugh at filmmaking then
"State and Main" might be for you. You might have to think
a little more than you want to, it’s not a dumb comedy, but it
does have its moments and I’ll wrap this up by giving it 4 stars
out of 5.
That’s it for this one! I’m The Dude on the Right!! L8R!!! |
