Images - State and Main

<BODY bgcolor="#CCCC99"> <font size="2"><p>Movie Review <font size="4"><br>State and Main</font> <br>by David Ng</font> <p><i><font size="6"><b>S</b></font>tate and Main</i> is David Mamet lite, a warm-hearted satire about moviemaking that is as witty and uplifting as a Shakespearean comedy. Directing from his own original screenplay, Mamet is at that point in his film career where he knows the ins and outs of the Hollywood machine but can still keep his distance. His characters cover the usual industry archetypes, from the Jewish megalomaniac producer to the faux vulnerable leading lady, but they all speak with that unmistakable Mamet tone, a sardonic coolness with a confrontational bent. His screenplay, composed almost entirely of snappy one-liners, doesn’t go for Hollywood’s much-ravaged jugular. Unlike Robert Altman’s <i>The Player</i> or the Coen Brother’s <i>Barton Fink</i>, State and Main prefers quirk to dark cynicism, portraying its Tinseltown stooges as a bunch of lovable, quick minded buffoons. <p><a href="default-nf.htm">Go to the review</a></font> </body>