As great a writer as David Mamet is (both on stage and on the big screen), his skills as a filmmaker occasionally leave something to be desired.
That's because the award-winning playwright and screenwriter has made a career of directing movies that betray his extensive theater roots — films that could be called stagey because of the unimaginative camera work and awkward, even off-putting performances that probably would have worked better in a theatrical setting than on the screen.
As the tongue-firmly-lodged-in-cheek-show-biz-farce "State and Main" suggests, Mamet may not be cured of those affectations completely, but he's definitely getting better.
For one thing, he continues to make improvements in his technical skills (there are more than just the same static camera shots), and he gets genuinely warm performances from one of the best casts he's ever worked with.
That includes William H. Macy, who stars as Walt Price, a Hollywood director working on his latest movie. He and his crew have relocated their latest endeavor to Waterford, a quaint Vermont community that seems happy to have them there.
And Price is thankful to get at least some sort of break, seeing as how he's got a small budget that continues to shrink, as well as a host of other problems.
Among the most serious is trying to get the screenwriter (Philip Seymour Hoffman) to rework the script — due to an unforeseen logistical problem — and getting his leading lady (Sarah Jessica Parker) to do the nude scene she was contracted for. If that isn't bad enough, his womanizing star (a never-funnier Alec Baldwin) has gotten into trouble with an underage waitress (Julia Stiles), which has one greedy town official (Clark Gregg) threatening legal action.
Another of Mamet's filmmaking afflictions is his constant casting of his wife, robotic actress Rebecca Pidgeon. However, perhaps because she's paired with the always-terrific Hoffman, she's not her customary aloof self, and the subplot about the romance between their characters helps give the story heart.
Not that it really needed one, mind you. Mamet's numerous barbs directed at Hollywood and the whole film industry are, for the most part, well-placed, and his dialogue is as snappy as ever.
That said, there is a slight problem with the film's pacing. Though the first half is bright and brisk, things get bogged down in the second half, almost taking a too-serious turn in tone and climaxing with some rather heavy-handed philosophizing.
"State and Main" is rated R for occasional use of strong profanity, as well as some sexual slang terms and vulgar humor, brief partial female nudity and glimpses of nude artwork, and use of some ethnic slurs. Running time: 106 minutes.
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