Author: ChadPolenz@aol.com Subject: Review: State And Main (2000) Approved: graham@ee.washington.edu Newsgroups: rec.arts.movies.reviews Organization: None X-Questions-to: graham@jetcity.com X-Submissions-to: graham@ee.washington.edu Followup-To: rec.arts.movies.current-films Summary: r.a.m.r. #28090 Keywords: author=polenz
State And Main a film review by Chad Polenz
WHAT IT'S ABOUT:
A Hollywood film crew invades the small town of Waterford, Vermont for its authenticity of an old-fashioned small American town where everyone knows each other's names, the firehouse is the same one used 100 years ago, and they have an old water mill. Problems arise when the screenwriter is called in to makes changes to the script on the fly because the old town is missing a few key landmarks and the starring actress doesn't want to do the nude scene. The film is also going over budget and the starring actor could be in big trouble with the law due to his craving for teenage girls.
WHAT'S GOOD ABOUT IT:
Writer/director David Mamet tells this story in the style of a classic stage play or musical, a la "Our Town" or "The Music Man." He keeps the atmosphere satirical which allows the comedy to work quite well. And yes, this is a comedy, but a thinking man's comedy where the jokes are derived from witty, biting jabs at Hollywood. You've seen this stuff before such as in "The Player" or "Bowfinger," or on quite a few sitcoms but Mamet's approach is a little different to keep it original, fresh and unpredictable so that when the story suddenly shifts or a wacky jokes pops up out of nowhere you're genuinely surprised.
WHAT'S NOT SO GOOD ABOUT IT:
Sometimes Mamet's mannerisms can be really annoying, especially if you're familiar with his work. If you're not, it includes characters repeating themselves; slowly-paced scenes and unnecessary foul language.
Rebecca Pidgeon plays essentially the same character she did in "The Spanish Prisoner" - an eccentric smart woman with a penchant for detail who likes to force herself onto others. She doesn't talk like a real person and when she dumps her fiancee for the screenwriter whom she's only known for a few days it comes across as quite lame and forced.
"State And Main" also has its moments of unbridled zaniness that reminds you of something on "Frasier." Although most of the comedy is original the jokes that are predictable are REALLY predictable.
OVERALL CRITIQUE:
It's nice to see Mamet lighten up a bit, relatively speaking. This being something of a throwaway, insignificant story it's still a heck of a lot better than if some Hollywood clown tried to write and direct it their way.
"State And Main" has a well-written screenplay of nuances and detail that's never gratuitous. Everything has a reason for being put in the place that it is. What's more, it even makes good use of the film-within-the-film's supposedly Oscar-caliber theme about getting a second chance. The actual film isn't quite THAT good, but it is a refreshing and satisfying change of pace that anyone would be bettered by seeing it.
GRADE: B
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