This gem of a movie was probably not a blockbuster when released. The storyline is thin and almost non-existent, it could be summed up as, "everyone gets the chance to screw up a second time". Nevertheless, there are enough twists and turns to make what story there is interesting. This must be the sort of movie that every good actor and actress would love to have a role in as the screenplay has been written by an accomplished playwright. It is a farcical melodrama rather than a comedy but nonetheless highly enjoyable.
A film-making team, hard up on critical funds, has just been thrown out of a small town in New Hampshire. Their movie's plot necessitates the choice of a small town New England locale and a water mill (one reason why they are short of funds is that they had to build an old water mill replica in the New Hampshire town). As the movie begins The Director and his crew find themselves in a small town in Vermont (actually most of the scenes are shot in Connecticut or Massachusetts). The beauty of the location is well-captured by excellent photography. The makers of State and Main did not fall into the trap of shooting the film during the Fall. New England fall colors would be a major distraction although Alfred Hitchcock's black comedy, "The Trouble With Harry", succeeded despite being shot in Vermont at the peak of the fall leaf color season, but then Hitchcock was an exceptional genius.
The small town has being going on in its leisurely way until the film crew arrive. The obvious star of "State and Main" is Philip Seymour Hoffman a previously little known Hollywood actor whose first appeared on the screen as the spoiled rich daddy-supported George Willis Jr. In that memorable Al Pacino film, "Scent of a Woman". Hoffman's key role in State and Main is as the author and screen play writer for the movie within the movie. The better known Hollywood star Alec Baldwin plays the lesser role of the film-in making's male star. He is portrayed as a lustful male whose sexual preference is of under age nubile girls.
The Director is played by William H. Macy, who is completely unflappable no matter what. The producer arrives after the crew has settled in. The role is played by droopy-eyed David Paymer, who is completely obsessed with money and will bribe anyone to get things moving. The male star lead is almost fatally distracted by a young teenager (Julia Stiles). The female lead and siren, Sarah Jessica Parker, demands substantial extra money for appearing naked in a scene claiming that she has found religion. Hoffman is smitten in the heart by an attractive young woman (Rebecca Pigeon) in the town who is engaged or semi-engaged to the local bad man and town councilor.
I will leave it to the reader's imagination to find out if the film crew gets the second chance to screw up again. The movie is directed by David Mamet, a leading American playwright. Mamet wrote the screen plays for well-known movies such as "The Postman Always Rings Twice", "The Untouchables"" , and had a minor role as a performer in the 1986 thriller "Black Widow". He has directed several movies aside from this one in the past 17 years.
It is evident that Mamet , who also wrote the screen play for this charming melodrama, was at a loss for a suitable title for the film, just like the director in the play, who wanted to call his movie The Old Mill, only to find out, upon arrival in the Vermont town, that the much advertised Old Mill had burnt down in 1960. Mamet settled on the uninspiring title "State and Main" from the intersection where the town's brand new traffic lights still stand at the start of the movie. Interestingly enough the title for the DVD version of "State and Main" circulating in Greece is translated as "Without Title". I am fairly confident that this little known 102 minute melodrama will become a cine buff's classic one day
A film-making team, hard up on critical funds, has just been thrown out of a small town in New Hampshire. Their movie's plot necessitates the choice of a small town New England locale and a water mill (one reason why they are short of funds is that they had to build an old water mill replica in the New Hampshire town). As the movie begins The Director and his crew find themselves in a small town in Vermont (actually most of the scenes are shot in Connecticut or Massachusetts). The beauty of the location is well-captured by excellent photography. The makers of State and Main did not fall into the trap of shooting the film during the Fall. New England fall colors would be a major distraction although Alfred Hitchcock's black comedy, "The Trouble With Harry", succeeded despite being shot in Vermont at the peak of the fall leaf color season, but then Hitchcock was an exceptional genius.
The small town has being going on in its leisurely way until the film crew arrive. The obvious star of "State and Main" is Philip Seymour Hoffman a previously little known Hollywood actor whose first appeared on the screen as the spoiled rich daddy-supported George Willis Jr. In that memorable Al Pacino film, "Scent of a Woman". Hoffman's key role in State and Main is as the author and screen play writer for the movie within the movie. The better known Hollywood star Alec Baldwin plays the lesser role of the film-in making's male star. He is portrayed as a lustful male whose sexual preference is of under age nubile girls.
The Director is played by William H. Macy, who is completely unflappable no matter what. The producer arrives after the crew has settled in. The role is played by droopy-eyed David Paymer, who is completely obsessed with money and will bribe anyone to get things moving. The male star lead is almost fatally distracted by a young teenager (Julia Stiles). The female lead and siren, Sarah Jessica Parker, demands substantial extra money for appearing naked in a scene claiming that she has found religion. Hoffman is smitten in the heart by an attractive young woman (Rebecca Pigeon) in the town who is engaged or semi-engaged to the local bad man and town councilor.
I will leave it to the reader's imagination to find out if the film crew gets the second chance to screw up again. The movie is directed by David Mamet, a leading American playwright. Mamet wrote the screen plays for well-known movies such as "The Postman Always Rings Twice", "The Untouchables"" , and had a minor role as a performer in the 1986 thriller "Black Widow". He has directed several movies aside from this one in the past 17 years.
It is evident that Mamet , who also wrote the screen play for this charming melodrama, was at a loss for a suitable title for the film, just like the director in the play, who wanted to call his movie The Old Mill, only to find out, upon arrival in the Vermont town, that the much advertised Old Mill had burnt down in 1960. Mamet settled on the uninspiring title "State and Main" from the intersection where the town's brand new traffic lights still stand at the start of the movie. Interestingly enough the title for the DVD version of "State and Main" circulating in Greece is translated as "Without Title". I am fairly confident that this little known 102 minute melodrama will become a cine buff's classic one day