Product Description

When a hollywood film crew invades a small town they shoot first and ask questions later. With greedy producers self-absorbed actors and trouble-making towns-folk scandal is an all-star production. Special features: original theatrical trailer: and much more. Studio: New Line Home Video Release Date: 09/26/2006 Starring: Alec Baldwin Clark Gregg Run time: 105 minutes Rating: R Director: David Mamet

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #20453 in DVD
• Released on: 2001-06-19
• Rating: R (Restricted)
• Aspect ratio: 1.33:1
• Formats: Anamorphic, Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, DVD, Full Screen, Widescreen, NTSC
• Original language: English
• Subtitled in: English
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 106 minutes

Amazon.com
Pity the poor film director (William H. Macy). He's arrived with cast and crew in the perfectly Rockwellian town of Waterford, Vermont, only to discover that the local mill--a crucial location for his movie, since it's titled "The Old Mill"--burned down in 1960. The idealistic screenwriter (Philip Seymour Hoffman) would rather pursue a pure-hearted local (Rebecca Pidgeon) than do a last-minute rewrite; the town's aspiring politico (Clark Gregg) wants to milk the production for every dime it's worth; the oft-exposed bimbo starlet (Sarah Jessica Parker) is now balking at her contractual nude scene; and a local teenager (Julia Stiles) is only too willing to exploit the indiscretions of the film's skirt-chasing star (Alec Baldwin). And of course, the power-wielding producer (David Paymer) is panicking about everything.

Welcome to David Mamet's State and Main, the acclaimed writer-director's funniest and most accessible film to date, propelled by the rocket fuel of Mamet's show-biz experience and driven by an ensemble cast that simply couldn't be better. Naturally, the writer's dilemma is the meatiest one--will he be noble or sell out?--and Mamet arrives at a solution that's as hilarious as it is morally justified. Along the way, the rigors of filmmaking are explored with farcical abandon, such as how to provide a high-tech product placement... in a 19th-century story. Mamet's razor-sharp dialogue is gourmet popcorn here--each kernel yields a tasty surprise--and the whole scenario (intentionally modeled in the style of Preston Sturges) 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. --Jeff Shannon

Customer Reviews

Go Huskies!
The marketing of "State and Main" did it little justice. I stayed away at first, fearful of another tired send-up of Hollywood and it's surreal machinations. Also, it appeared to be a wacky, zany, nutty comedy (three adjectives that should never -- NEVER! -- precede the word comedy). Thankfully, it's only a little of the former and relatively none of the latter.

What is it really? A David Mamet film. Silly me for thinking otherwise. Once again, Mamet's script huffs and puffs, trying desperately to blow down the pomposity of the filmmakers who land on a small Vermont town. And it tries its best to inflate the small town folk, imbuing them with homespun knowledge, wisdom, and most importantly, purity. And when it realizes that it can't do either -- that both manage to be the proverbial immovable object to its unstoppable force -- it settles down into a finely crafted character study.

Standouts in this respect include William H. Macy's cynical director, spouting platitudes into the ears of whomever needs calming, and ripping into his crew with deadpan glee. David Paymer is biting as the producer who has all the answers and damns anyone who gets in his way. Alec Baldwin and Sarah Jessica Parker play the lead actors in the film-within-the-film. He has a perilous predilection for young girls. She's found religion. The film never tells you which is worse. And Philip Seymour Hoffman, as the movie crew's token innocent (he's the writer, natch), finally gets to play a character who's both likable and *not* creepy. He even manages a series of near-miss love scenes.

And whom does Mr. Hoffman share his love scenes with. Why, it's Rebecca Pidgeon, of course. I quote from my review of Mamet's "The Spanish Prisoner", regarding her performance: "[She's] Horrible, horrible, horrible. Well, not really." True, she redeemed herself by the end of that movie, but not nearly enough to get another kick at the can in one of her husband's films. And yet here she is again. And you know what? She's astounding! Her bookish theatre director is (under-) played with just the right amount of simple wisdom and joyous wit. Whereas in "The Spanish Prisoner" I couldn't for the life of me figure out why Campbell Scott's character didn't haul off and push her into the sea, here I was rooting for Hoffman's character to wake up and see what a great woman he had right in front of his eyes. Bravo!

"State and Main" is not a traditional Mamet theatre/film piece, filled with non-sequiturs like "dog my cats" and prone to making grand and stately visions about the morality of man. It most definitely is about the search for purity. And it's set in a place where the truth, if heard by even the most cynical of ears, would make a lot of sense.

State and Main
Hollywood has a long tradition of movies about movie-making, which range from the sublime (Sullivan's Travels, The Bad and the Beautiful) to the horrifying (Sweet Liberty). Thankfully, David Mamet's new film belongs with the former rather than the latter. Although known more for his gritty dramas than comedy, there is no doubt that Mamet has a genius for dialogue, and never has he put this genius to better use than he does in "State and Main." The movie also features one of the great ensemble casts in recent memory. In addition to Mamet regulars William H. Macy, Rebecca Pidgeon, and Ricky Jay, the cast of this Hollywood-film-crew-comes-to-small-town-New-England comedy features Alec Baldwin,Philip Seymour Hoffman, Sarah Jessica Parker, Charles Durning, and Julia Stiles.

If there is any justice at all in Hollywood, the Academy voters will be able enough to laugh at their industry, and this movie will get a Best Picture nomination.

Wonderful and Hilarious
"State and Main" is a throwback to the often gentle but hilarious satires of the 50s and 60s--you know the ones where the bucolic splendor of small-town America is thrust into chaos by the arrival of out-of-towners. Like "The Music Man" and "The Russians are Coming! The Russians are Coming!", David Mamet's sendup is witty and affecting, though many of his famous four-letter-word sensibilities still pepper the mix. The terrific ensemble cast includes Alec Baldwin, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Rebecca Pidgeon, William H. Macy, and Sarah Jessica Parker, and the story revolves around a frenetic movie crew struggling to turn a dramatic disaster into a box-office winner. Along the way, they brave graft from the locals, the Machiavellian efforts of a producer, and the peccadilloes of a star that deserves to be locked up. Despite some raunch and cynicism, Mamet somehow manages to splash a sweet gloss on it all, particularly with a refreshingly watchable romance between Hoffman and Pidgeon. Look for some great sight gags, too, and, of course, Mamet's penchant for rip-snortin' dialogue. About the only complaint I have is that Ricky Jay didn't have more to do.