Hey folks, Harry here... and ya know, I really hate having missed this film. Don't get me wrong, I had a great time doing what I was doing when this was playing... but I'm a Mamet fan too, and would've liked to have been able to do both... But luckily due to the amazing genius of Dmann.. he's done that for us... Take a read, he has some spoilers, but let's face it... Mamet isn't a real spoiler guy... every scene and sequence is fun-filled with his writing flourishes... and must be seen and heard completely to appreciate fully. Here's Dmann...
Hey Harry, its your birthday buddy Dmann here, and seeing as how I drove a sum total of 1,868.4 miles round trip in coming to Austin, I felt I had better justify it by reporting in on a film that should be getting at least a screenplay nod at the Oscar Awards this spring, David Mamet’s latest effort, STATE AND MAIN.
I saw the film during the Heart of Film Screenwriters Conference portion of the Austin film festival, at the glorious old Paramount theater in Austin, a true palace among theaters. Needless to say the theater was packed with writers, wanna-be writers, producers, and assorted other film aficionados. All the better, for this is a movie that is all about the writing, in story, and in spirit.
I think my festival buddy Ralph put it best when he said “Nothing like Mamet to make you feel like a hack." So true Ralphie, so true.
David Mamet’s dialogue is as sharp, as it has ever been, in the best of his works. He isn’t a writer that most of us equate with audiences laughing their asses off in the seats, but that has all changed. This has the punch of Glengarry Glen Ross, the intelligent humor of Wag the Dog and frankly the big belly laughs that Mamet has never had in his work before. The only criticism I can possibly throw out is that in some of the machine gun dialogue, a line here or there rings a little stiff, (not a lot, just a little). He takes a collection of archtypical, stock characters, and gives them life with his words, his direction, and the casting.
The movie is full of little “in” jokes, which in a different time, would have probably fallen on deaf ears. However, it’s the year 2000, and thanks to the abundance of information from places like this very site, Entertainment Tonight, Access Hollywood, Premiere Magazine, and Entertainment Weekly, your average John Q. Public knows all more about the behind the scenes details to keep the laughter going.
POSSIBLE SPOILERS FOLLOW
In STATE AND MAIN, the production team of a Hollywood movie, The Old Mill, shows up in a small Vermont town, forced to relocate from their original location in New Hampshire. The production is running out of money, after the old town literally kicked them out and held their sets for ransom.
The story is centered around the character of Joseph Turner White, a pretty standard brooding New York playwright cum screenwriter, played by Philip Seymour Hoffman. It would have been very easy for Hoffman to just play White as the standard depressed, whining writer, he adds a joy, an open eyed amazement at the purity he sees in this little town in Vermont.
White is forced to give the production rewrite after rewrite, fixing minor details such as, the Old Mill of the title having burnt down approximately 40 years before they got there. White also must contend with a very Pamela Anderson-ish actress (Sarah Jessica Parker) who has suddenly developed a moral problem showing her breasts yet again on film, for less than an extra $ 800,000.
Quickly, White finds romance with the local bookstore owner/community theater director, Anne Black, (Rebecca Pidgeon.) Black immediately drops her dorky city councilman Fiancé. After that, Black serves as White’s conscience, his Jimney Cricket, always pushing him to do the right thing, sometimes to the benefit of the production, but more often to its detriment.
Attempting to hold the production together is Director Walt Price, played by William H, Macy, who once again delivers a pitch perfect performance. Price on one hand is a manipulative bastard, willing to do and say whatever it takes to get what he needs for the film, but that is balanced by the fact that all he wants to do is get this movie made, to tell the story, and tell it right.
The real problems happen when the “biggest movie star in the world” Bob Barrenger (Alec Baldwin) shows up. Barrenger, it seems has a weakness for young ladies who haven’t quite reached the age of consent. Of course there’s a local girl, (Julia Stiles) and of course he succumbs to the temptation, because, as Barrenger says, “Everybody needs a hobby.”
Thrown in the mix is Producer Marty Rossen, played with ruthless sleaze by David Paymer. Rossen is the Mamet character we all recognize. He is the money man, the asshole, the man who has no problem verbally ripping an actress to shreds, the man who will insist on a product placement for “Bazoomer.com” in a 1700’s period piece. He’s also the one who will do whatever it takes to ensure the production isn’t shut down by his lead actor’s indiscretions.
Charles Durning, Patti LuPone, and Ricky Jay, along with a couple of “guys in the cafe” provide some truly memorable moments, playing star struck locals, who of course, get walked all over by the “movie people.”
Things finally come to a head at the intersection of State and Main during an incident involving Barrenger, a pothole, a speeding car and Stile’s underage girl. Once this comes to light, all hell breaks loose, and (pardon the cliché) hilarity ensues.
All told this is without a doubt the most crowd pleasing movie that Mamet has done as a director. Unless the brass over at Fine Line Features screws the pooch, they have a potential hit there. As I heard at the conference over and over, people want to see good movies, and this is a very good movie.
Dmann
