State and Main

State and Main
by David Mamet

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Movie Reviews of State and Main

Movie Review: Excellent actors and witty script...
Summary: 5 Stars

Rebecca Pidgeon stars in all three of these Mamet films, and once again she has been perfectly cast as a clever, witty, emancipated and articulate young woman. In STATE AND MAIN she plays the local drama teacher who directs the community theater. When asked about children she says, "I never saw the point of them." Pidgeon is a perfect foil to the wonderful Philip Seymour Hoffman who has also acted in several other really good films including NEXT STOP WONDERLAND. I had not seen Mr. Hoffman play a "leading man" before and I think he did a very fine job.

The cast is multitalented and with this much talent it's easy to make a turkey as "stars" twinkle and fall all over each other. However, Mr. Mamet apparently runs a tight ship. The actors interact perfectly. Their timing is terrific. Their lines are clever and succinct. They are mostly likeable although they all have character defects. All of us could probably say "this crew reminds me of the people at my work place." These are ordinary people with ordinary motives--except this is show business.

The device of the play within the play is used, as well as other elements from the great playwright Shakespeare. Hoffman plays a playwright who has been asked to adopt his stage play "The Old Mill" into a screen play set in a town without an old mill. Thus, he must rewrite his script. One wonders how much of himself Mamet put into the characters played by Hoffman and Pidgeon. Although other characters' motives are made reasonably clear, this story is told from the perspective of the writer.

This is a funny, wonderful and uplifting movie. Buy the DVD, you'll watch it more than once.

Summary of State and Main