Cheap State and Main (DVD) (Rebecca Pidgeon) (David Mamet) Price

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Customer Reviews of State and Main

Sweet, charming, and delightfully satirical
This warm, homey, satirical comedy is David Mamet's homage to the filmmaking industry. It's a story about purity - the unforced, unpretentious timeless simplicity of a quiet New England town populated by just plain folks, and the age-old heroic struggle of the artist trying to share his vision with the world. But it's also a story about second chances, even if it's only the opportunity to make the same mistake twice. And certainly it's a story about money, too, but enough with generalities...

The ensemble cast features some of Mamet's favorite actors, including the wonderful William Macy as the smooth-talking director who is determined to get his movie made no matter what, and the always-quirky Phillip Seymour Hoffman as the sensitive author who struggles to keep up with the ever-changing demands that reality makes on his screenplay. Sarah Jessica Parker plays the leading lady brilliantly, showing us a woman with beauty and charm and animal grace who can scarcely speak a complete sentence unless she's reading it from a script.... Alec Baldwin's performance is less notable; he never really seems to take on the character of the film's skirt-chasing star, but seems to be merely playing himself.

The real standout is the terrific performance by Rebecca Pidgeon whose luminous presence really steals the film and makes her character's romance with the writer the main plot focus. She's a bookseller, and like most of the people in this small, out of the way town, is much smarter than anyone in the production company (or for that matter watching the movie) expects them to be. Her dialogues with Hoffman are intimate, artful, creative, and ultimately rather unrealistic, but then, this isn't a very realistic film, and if the illusion of real life is important to you, you might give this one a miss. If you're willing to concede Mamet his artifice, this sweet, charming story should delight the small-town intellectual in everyone.

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Side-splittingly funny Hollywood satire
A film crew goes to a small town in Vermont (they were previously in a small town in New Hampshire, but had to move due to the male star's penchant for underage girls) to film a movie called "The Old Mill". The problem is that the old mill burned down in 1960, part of a spate of "unexplained fires". And that's just one of the funny set pieces of David Mamet's latest movie.

There is the overly tense, carbohydrate-hating director, played to perfection by William H. Macy. The male star, played with swagger by Alec Baldwin. The female star, who refuses to go topless (despite having committed to it in her contract) unless the production company pays her additional money, played by Sarah Jessica Parker. And the hapless writer, who now must find a substitute for the mill, played by Phillip Seymour Hoffman.

Unlike most Mamet-written or -directed films, this is a gentle comedy, without most of the raw language of his plays. But the dialogue is no less sharp and no less funny. There isn't a weak link in the cast, and the laughs keep coming as Bob (Baldwin) gets into trouble with yet another teenage girl (Julia Stiles, who makes it unclear whether she is the seducer or the seducee), Joseph (Hoffman) struggles to keep up with the demanded rewrites, and a town prosecutor vindictively (and then justifiably) goes after the film company for what is happening to the town.

Filmed in a picturesque little hamlet, the complications of the plot seem all the funnier for occurring in this bucolic atmosphere.

Very, very funny and highly recommended.

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Mainly Funny
Phillip Hoffman is searching for purity. Unfortunately his play has been purchased by a wild Hollywood movie crew, and they're off and shooting in Waterford, Vermont because Main Street is already there. It's cheaper than building a set. Then the town's folks, New Englanders, dry and pragmatic, mingle with Hollywood slime balls, daft, smooth-talking director, William H. Macy and screen idol, young girl chasing, Alex Baldwin. Sarah J. Parker of Sex in the City fame plays the nymphomaniac actress bedding everyone in sight. Small town smart girl Rebecca Pigeon and writer Hoffman make the necessary changes in the script and then they fall in love. A scandal threatens the shoot and somebody forgets the mayor's dinner party. There's plenty of manic fun here. I recommend for a good laugh. Also, is it just I or is William H. Macy the best actor in the world.