Rating: 
Summary: Lights! Camera! Action!......Get Ready To Laugh!...
Review: This review refers to the New Line Home Entertainment DVD of "State and Main".......There's trouble with a capitol "T" brewing in Waterford, Vermont as a Hollywood film crew descends on this folksy little town, where everybody knows your name.But who's running the show is the question? Find out in this hilarious story that has one of the best casts ever assembled. Written and Directed by David Mamet, a small town discovers they are to be the location of a big budget film. The crew arrives and immediatly takes over the hotel, and the main streets of town. The Hollywood types from the quirky director(William H Macy) to the lecherous movie star(Alec Baldwin)are in a take charge frame of mind. But wait...The townfolk also want in on the action.You'll laugh your way through, as you meet the actress(Sarah Jessica Parker) who has second thoughts on her provacative scenes, the writer(Philip Seymour Hoffman) who finds love and scruples in the small town,the teenage girl(Julia Stiles)who causes a scandal and a lawsuit, and the Producer(David Paymner) who will stop at nothing to get this film made. The cast also includes Charles Durning, Patti Lupone and Rebecca Pidgeon.They will all have you laughing.And if you stay through the credits you'll be treated to some very funny stuff. The DVD may be viewed in either the widescreen 2.35:1 aspect or a standard format if you prefer. The picture is clear and sharp with vibrant colors. The 5.1 Surround sound is great and you can watch the film with commentary by some of the stars if you choose. The DVD also has DVD-ROM. There are English subtitles if needed. This tounge-in-cheek humor gets better with each viewing..go for it....Laurie
Rating:
Summary: Great cast, great script, great film!!
Review: "Hello, Marty. We've got a new town. Mm-Hm. We're in- Where are we again- Waterford, Vermont. What do you mean where is it? That's where it is." Such begins an incredibly engaging adventure of a film crew's efforts to begin shoot on the problem-plagued film 'The Old Mill'. This is, to my knowledge, Mamet's first comedy for the screen but you'd never guess. Those who are long-time Mamet fans will recognize many of the faces from other films as well as Mamet's trademark snappy dialogue. I believe the writer of the score is the same as in 'The Spanish Prisoner' also. Put all this together and you've got a real treat. On top of all that though, Mamet shows us great characters from the first-time film writer trying in vain to complete a script about purity, to the big time movie star who has a thing for 14 year old girls, to the overpressured director who wants a compromise at 'half-a-twenty-eight-year-old girl.' We all knew Hollywood was fun!!
Rating: 
Summary: Not very good...
Review: ...But it gets one star for the brief moments that Ricky Jay has in the film and another for portions of Alec Baldwin's performance. Overall this is a stinker. Mamet is not a good director. He should stick to writing.
Rating: 
Summary: Witty and Smart
Review: "State and Main" is a David Mamet movie, and it shows. While more light-hearted than most of the his other works, it shares their stylized writing, understated cinematography, and brilliantly cynical humor. The movie follows the misadventures of a Hollywood film crew as they try to make a movie in small-town America, spinning locals and movie people alike into a whirlwind of hilarity. Featuring an ensemble cast of excellent actors (Phillip Seymour Hoffman, Rebecca Pidgeon, David Paymer, William H. Macy, Sarah Jessica Parker, Alec Baldwin, Clark Gregg, and Julia Stiles, among others), "State and Main" relies on their energy and fast-paced paced interaction to keep the laughs coming. The characters they play are caricatures (the noble writer, the slick director, the skirt-chasing actor, the greedy producer), but they are nevertheless believable. The very absurdity of the characters is entertaining, but the humor is intelligent - there's nothing slapstick about this. In fact, if the movie has a weakness, it is this very intelligence; at times, the writing seems a little self-conscious, the smartness a little stilted. Nevertheless, I'd much prefer a comedy to be too smart than not smart enough, and "State and Main" leans that way if it leans at all. Aided by a punchy soundtrack, the film gets off to a quick start and maintains its pace throughout. The dialog has a staccato rhythm, and the lines are delivered with beautiful comedic timing. The underlying themes of second chances and the transience of the American Dream are clear, but unobtrusive. I truly feel that this movie is an underrated masterwork, and I recommend it wholeheartedly to anyone who likes to laugh. I've watched "State and Main" at least five times, and it remains funny and engaging on each viewing - something I find very rare in a film. Buy this movie today, or rent it, or borrow it - you won't regret it.
Rating:
Summary: The Only Second Chance I Know...
Review: This is a comedy with wit and heart.
When the cast and crew of a Hollywood film are run out of one small town for the "fetish" of the lead actor (Baldwin) they must quickly relocate to yet another SmallTown USA.
They are assailed almost immediately by the townfolk, who want a part in the film. The director has his hands full meeting and greeting people, trying to get the movie made on time (and within the budget). The actors are struggling with their own moral dilemas (Baldwin is flirting with disaster in the form of an adoring fan who's just a tad underage and Sarah Jessica Parker doesn't want to show off her breasts in a contractual nude scene because she's found religion). And the poor writer, whose art is being torn apart by actors, producers, and necessity of sets, is just looking for a typewriter to complete the rewrites they're demanding of him.
His quest leads him to a local bookstore, where he finds not only the typewriter, but love, as the woman working the counter turns out to be as intellegent and well read as she is beautiful.
Crisis after crisis ensues, with everything happening around the intersection of State and Main.
When Baldwin is caught with his underage fan, all seems doomed, as the writer is confronted with the moral dilema of having to testify against the star and cancelling the production (and blacklisting himself in Hollywood forevermore) or lying, and losing the affections of the woman he loves.
It all boils down to a surprise ending, that I cannot reveal. All I can say is that this is a film with a great deal of thought behind it, and a brilliant satire of the Hollywood world.
Rating:
Summary: Cool Satire, Not Quite Perfect
Review: William H. Macy absolutely steals the show as the harried director of "The Old Mill", a movie within the movie that's behind schedule and out of money and got run out of its last location shoot for reasons never quite stated but easily deduced from dialogue clues. David Paymer is his near-equal as the film's producer, who can go from charming to threatening and back again in the flex of a facial muscle and the click of a cell-phone key. Philip Seymour Harris as the film's writer is goofy but strangely likeable, and has a nice counterpart in Rebecca Pidgeon as the town's bookstore owner and head of the local drama club. Alec Baldwin is, as usual, better than his material and seems to have found a new career as a character actor by sending up his former glamorous leading man persona, this time playing the film's star actor who has a thing for young (read: TOO YOUNG) girls. Sarah Jessica Parker does a decent as his leading lady, a bimbo hired for her body who thinks that "The Old Mill" will give her the chance to do more. The supporting cast is filled with charming performances, clever visuals fill the screen, and snappy dialogue keeps the pace moving reasonably well until about 30 minutes from the end. But even with the slip, the ending recovers nicely and you'll find yourself laughing out loud at the denouement, which caught me completely by surprise.
Rating:
Summary: Witty and Smart
Review: "State and Main" is a David Mamet movie, and it shows. While more light-hearted than most of the his other works, it shares their stylized writing, understated cinematography, and brilliantly cynical humor. The movie follows the misadventures of a Hollywood film crew as they try to make a movie in small-town America, spinning locals and movie people alike into a whirlwind of hilarity. Featuring an ensemble cast of excellent actors (Phillip Seymour Hoffman, Rebecca Pidgeon, David Paymer, William H. Macy, Sarah Jessica Parker, Alec Baldwin, Clark Gregg, and Julia Stiles, among others), "State and Main" relies on their energy and fast-paced paced interaction to keep the laughs coming. The characters they play are caricatures (the noble writer, the slick director, the skirt-chasing actor, the greedy producer), but they are nevertheless believable. The very absurdity of the characters is entertaining, but the humor is intelligent - there's nothing slapstick about this. In fact, if the movie has a weakness, it is this very intelligence; at times, the writing seems a little self-conscious, the smartness a little stilted. Nevertheless, I'd much prefer a comedy to be too smart than not smart enough, and "State and Main" leans that way if it leans at all. Aided by a punchy soundtrack, the film gets off to a quick start and maintains its pace throughout. The dialog has a staccato rhythm, and the lines are delivered with beautiful comedic timing. The underlying themes of second chances and the transience of the American Dream are clear, but unobtrusive. I truly feel that this movie is an underrated masterwork, and I recommend it wholeheartedly to anyone who likes to laugh. I've watched "State and Main" at least five times, and it remains funny and engaging on each viewing - something I find very rare in a film. Buy this movie today, or rent it, or borrow it - you won't regret it.
Rating:
Summary: Enjoyable and fun
Review: State and Main is a witty, intelligent, and funny movie. Worth owning.
Rating:
Summary: Diverting, amusing
Review: I enjoyed this movie!
It was buoyant, amusing and clever. I laughed at most of the dialog.
The actors seemed to be having fun, great ensemble and casting
This is lighter than most of Mamet's movies, but engrossing.
Rating:
Summary: Everyone Gets a Second Chance
Review: Second chances is the theme of State and Main. Nearly all the characters have screwed up and are getting a second chance. How will they handle it? Will the movie star (Alex Baldwin) whose weakness for underage girls got the production evicted from their last location behave until the shooting is done? Will the small-town bookstore owner (Rebecca Pidgeon) who everyone agrees could "do better" than her overly-ambitious lawyer fiance, do better? Will the sensitive, helpless screenwriter (Philip Seymour Hoffman) be able to rewrite the screenplay on short notice? And more important, will he do the right thing when it comes to what he witnessed at the corner of State and Main?Great cast with William H. Macy as the director. The ending was a bit of a cop-out, but Mamet is always on the line between what is right and what is wrong, and maybe that's the point. Or maybe it was just supposed to be a fun, entertaining movie with witty dialogue. Either way, a very funny movie.
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