STATE AND MAIN
Alec Baldwin
Charles Durning
Clark Gregg
Philip Seymour Hoffman
William H.Macy
Patti Lupone
Sarah Jessica Parker
David Paymer

Writer/director David Mamet's new film is the latest in Hollywood's long tradition of movies about movies. When megalomaniac movie director, (Macy), decides to shoot his latest blockbuster in a small local town everything is turned upside down. Grizzled locals begin pouring over box office grosses in Variety Magazine and the mayor turns over the entire town to the movie crews whims.

Into all this chaos comes sensitive screenwriter Joe White (Hoffman), a playwright making his first Hollywood picture. Tormented by the changes he is being forced to make to his masterpiece, he confides in local bookshop owner Ann and the two begin gradually to fall in love. Ann, however, is engaged to a would be senator, who is out to take the movie production for all he can get. When lead actor Adam Baldwin's predilection for under age girls threatens to land the production in hot water, Joe must decide where his loyalties lie.

State and Main is a mostly successful comedy, with a large ensemble cast playing characters, which Mamet admits, are based on his own experiences in the film industry. The script is peppered with trademark rapid-fire dialogue and the one-liners come thick and fast, with some pointed barbs at the movie industry. The relationship between Joe and Ann meanwhile is touching and believable. Beyond the laughs however it is not clear what point the director is trying to make. The locals are initially painted as innocent, almost dumb, but by the conclusion show themselves to be just as adept at subterfuge as the film crew. This change in character seems more for plot purposes than anything else, and doesn't quite ring true. An attempted twist near the end also fails, and some subplots are left dangling.

Mamet seems to genuinely like his characters and has affection for the film industry as a whole. As a result the film doesn't have the same impact as similarly themed films such as The Player or Swimming with Sharks, although it is probably more accessible to a general audience. An enjoyable film but without the depth we've come to expect from one of America's greatest modern writers.

7/10