Nice effects though.

Although it has its amusing moments, in eneral the plot does not convince.

Blistering performances.

It is encouraging that the film ends so strongly.Otherwise, it wouldn't have been a particularly memorable film

State and Main is a comedy starring Philip Seymour Hoffman, Rebecca Pidgeon, Sarah Jessica Parker, Julia Stiles, William H. Macy and Alec Baldwin.The plot involves the on-location production in Waterford, Vermont of a film called The Old Mill.It was written and directed by David Mamet.Havoc is wrought on the inhabitants of a small New England town by a troubled film production. After the leading man's penchant for teenage girls gets them banished from their New Hampshire location, a film crew relocates to the small town of Waterford, Vermont, to finish shooting "The Old Mill."As its title suggests, the film depends on the presence of a genuine mill, something the town is reported to possess. Unfortunately, with only days before principal photography begins, it becomes apparent that the mill in fact burned down decades ago. Unfazed, the film's director, Walt Price, places his faith in the ability of first-time screenwriter Joseph Turner White to alter the script; what he doesn't count on is White's apparently bottomless reserve of angst-fueled writer's block.The film's leading lady refuses to do her contracted nude scene unless she's paid an additional $800,000, while a foreign cinematographer offends the locals by messing with a historic firehouse. Meanwhile, the leading man, Bob Barrenger, dallies with Carla, a crafty local teen. Everything comes to a head after Barrenger and Carla are injured in a car accident, which leads White to another emotional quandary and into the arms of local bookseller Annie Black. Meanwhile a powerful movie producer comes to town to help Price with the ensuing mess.State and Main offers plenty of wit and laughs in its lampoons of the movie industry.It is the funniest and most accessible film to date by David Mamet, propelled by the rocket fuel of his showbiz experience and driven by an ensemble cast that simply couldn't be better. Naturally, the writer's dilemma is the meatiest one and he arrives at a solution that's as hilarious as it is morally justified. Along the way, the rigors of film making are explored with farcical abandon, such as how to provide a high-tech product placement in a 19th-century story. His razor-sharp dialogue is gourmet popcorn here--each kernel yields a tasty surprise--and the whole scenario plays out with the breezy assurance of vintage screwball comedy. It's pure gold from start to finish, and even the closing credits offer another reason to laugh.Obviously,the nice thing about it is that it won't disappoint the viewer.

This is a brief review of "State and Main" and "Oleander", two films by David Mamet.The better of the two, "State" takes Mamet's usual tale of con-men and hucksters and places it in the quiet town of Waterford, Vermont. Here the con-men are not gangsters or card players, but a group of Hollywood filmmakers who wish to spend several weeks filming in the sleepy town.For a Mamet flick, "State" is surprisingly cute. Much of the film watches as slick big-city filmmakers try to exploit cuddly small towners, only to find that the country folk aren't as simpleminded as they first seemed. By the film's end everyone is taking advantage of everyone else, money constantly shifting hands and deals hastily being made.Like Altman's "The Player", "State" also satirizes various Hollywood types and Tinseltown customs, poking fun at actors, lawyers, producers, cinematographers, writers, assistants, nudity clauses and amateur theatre productions. Unlike Altman's film, however, Mamet's going for charm and whimsy. It's a light-hearted comedy, though it does contain one dark subplot about clashing egos, the instability of values (see Mamet's "Redbelt), artistic integrity and the corrosive power of money. It also gives Mamet a chance to indulge in his love for miscommunication and misdirection - for Mamet, all language is a con - and allows Alec Baldwin to sink his teeth in one of his best roles since "Glengarry Glen Ross"."Oleanna", also directed by David Mamet, is a claustrophobic film which mostly takes place in a single room. The film's first half consists of a Professor having a long discussion with one of his female students. Later we learn that she is failing his class and that she blames this on his "inability to clearly communicate". She then accuses him of using his "power" as a Professor to engage in a sort of "word rape", stating that she dislikes the way that he constantly uses pretentious words and convoluted metaphors to belittle his students. The second half of the film then shows the balance of power shifting between the Professor and the Student. She now speaks with confidence, whilst he continually stammers. She is now dressed with authority, whilst he is dishevelled. As this stage of the film progresses, she accuses him of sexual assault and threatens to have him fired and arrested. He, meanwhile, accuses her of misinterpreting his words and actions.Though overly theatrical (the film was based on one of Mamet's stage plays), "Oleanna" is endlessly fascinating. Primarily a backlash against the American political correctness movement of the early 1990s, the film takes political correctness to absurd lengths, the point being that if taken to its logical extreme, social sensitivity could become so invasive, so overpowering, that every interpersonal act could be construed as being sexual or punishable in nature.The film also offers a clever critique of educational systems (and their hierarchies of power), and allows Mamet to indulge in his love for word games (syntax as violence). Indeed, the film is one big semantic argument, the characters constantly battling over the "meaning" of words, "Oleanna" highlighting both the power and absurdity of language (Mamet has his characters speak in such a fashion as to highlight the very artificiality, arbitrariness and vagueness of words and/or meaning) and the way language leaves us vulnerable to misdirection.In typical Mamet fashion, the film eventually reveals itself to be a giant con game. Here it is explained that the female student was part of a "Group" which is plotting to remove the Professor from the school's faculty. 8/10 - Worth one viewing.

I didn't know a thing about this film when I sat down to watch it. So seeing the impressive cast and director gave me high hopes maybe this could be a sleeper I had missed! Alas as the film rolled on it soon became clear that this was no sleeper! The trouble is this film felt like a badly performed stage play, the characters were all obvious and so were the events that transpired. It just doesn't give the audience credit for having a brain, instead it spells it out for you in such an unimaginative way that it's more fun to imagine a darker side to proceedings than what happens here. As for the female lead as wooden as the Old Mill. And lastly the whimsical old men who spout local knowledge as if they're a couple of Greek philosopher's, Please!!!

It took quite a bit of negotiation to get the family to see "State and Main," but the cast of William Macy, Sarah Jessica Parker, Alec Baldwin, etc. finally convinced them. My husband was leery that David Mamet could be funny, but we all thought it was hysterical and laughed heartily.It's a much more mordant take on movie-making than Truffaut's "Day For Night" where a love for the magic of the movies still shows through. This has much more of a "Larry Sanders Show" sensibility of total cynicism about the internal and external goings on as a movie company takes over a quaint New England town.While the writer is poked fun at as much as anyone, Mamet's wife Rebecca Pigeon of course gets to play a nice, bright, if manipulative, lady.I'm pretty sure we were the only ones at the audience in Houston who got the Yiddish jokes and references.Stay for all the credits; the jokes continue through the very last frame.(originally written 2/4/2001)