State and Main

Depicting the chaos behind the production of a film isn't something very commonly tackled among Hollywood. (There are those few titles every and again.) Maybe it's because no one in Hollywood wants everyone to know the troubles that go into making a movie.

There are many complications that can affect the production of a film: money problems, "creative differences", squabbles between director and producer, actors behaving badly, insecure actors, re-writes galore...just your average film production. Nothing too extreme.

David Mamet's State and Main depicts such chaos and almost effortlessly. (Maybe because at that point Mamet had written for a number of prominent directors.) It almost made me iffy on pursuing a career in Hollywood. (Not entirely though.)

The names involved are pretty good. Among them are William H. Macy, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Alec Baldwin, Sarah Jessica Parker, Julia Stiles, David Paymer and Charles Durning. (Added bonus: Coulson -- er, Clark Gregg -- is in it too!) I found them very well suited for their roles, so I have no complaints on them.

My only complaint is with Mamet's style of writing. Maybe once I've gotten accustomed to it the complaints will stop but for now, I'm just not that into the repetitive nature of it. Still, the comedic moments helped a bit. I can see myself re-watching it in the near future though.

My Rating: ****1/2