It often begins with a lie, doesn't it? In Hollywood, perhaps more so than anywhere else. The initial fib, the necessary compromise, the small adjustment made for the sake of 'the picture'. David Mamet's State and Main (2000), arriving just as the VHS era was giving way to DVD dominance but still very much a presence on rental shelves, dives headfirst into this swirling vortex of creative necessity and moral flexibility. It lands like a perfectly timed, cynical punchline, delivered with the kind of rapid-fire, staccato dialogue only Mamet, the Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright behind Glengarry Glen Ross (1992), could truly master. What unfolds is less a gentle satire and more of a gleeful autopsy of the movie-making machine crashing into small-town America.
### The Dream Factory Hits Main Street
The premise is delightfully simple yet ripe for chaos: a big Hollywood production, ironically titled "The Old Mill," is forced to relocate at the last minute to the quaint, seemingly untouched town of Waterford, Vermont. Why the sudden move? Well, their leading man, Bob Barrenger (Alec Baldwin, in a performance that leans into his star power with predatory charm), has a certain... proclivity... that made their previous location untenable. Leading the charge is the perpetually stressed director Walt Price (William H. Macy, a frequent Mamet collaborator, embodying frazzled pragmatism), trying desperately to keep his picture, his star, and his sanity intact. Caught in the middle is Joseph Turner White (Philip Seymour Hoffman, radiating earnest confusion), the idealistic playwright who penned "The Old Mill" and watches in horror as his artistic vision is compromised at every turn.
The film crew descends upon Waterford like a conquering army, albeit one armed with scripts and cameras instead of cannons. They need the town's cooperation, its titular "Old Mill" (which, naturally, burned down decades ago), and its veneer of wholesome purity. What they bring, however, is Hollywood baggage: inflated egos, casual deception, sexual indiscretion, and a relentless focus on getting the shot, no matter the cost to truth or dignity. Doesn't it always seem that the quest for authenticity on screen often involves the most inauthentic behavior behind it?
### A Symphony of Cynicism and Wit
What makes State and Main such a joy, even two decades on, isn't just the premise but the execution. Mamet’s dialogue is the real star here – precise, cutting, often hilarious in its bluntness. Characters don't converse so much as they volley lines back and forth, each exchange a small power play or a deflection. It’s a specific rhythm, demanding actors who can handle its unique cadence, and this ensemble delivers magnificently. Macy’s mounting desperation, Baldwin’s blithe narcissism, Hoffman’s increasingly compromised integrity – they all feel perfectly tuned to Mamet’s cynical frequency.
Adding to the sharp dynamic are Sarah Jessica Parker as Claire Wellesley, the film-within-the-film's leading lady who suddenly develops a moral objection to baring her breasts (a $800,000 objection, to be precise), and Rebecca Pidgeon (Mamet's wife) as Ann Black, the sharp-witted local bookseller who sees through the Hollywood facade but finds herself drawn to Hoffman's conflicted writer. Their interactions provide much of the film's heart, questioning whether genuine connection can bloom amidst calculated artifice.
### Waterford Woes and Production Realities
Filming largely took place in the very real, very picturesque towns of Manchester-by-the-Sea and Beverly, Massachusetts, lending an authentic backdrop to the manufactured chaos. You can almost feel the sea breeze wafting through the scenes. Mamet is known for demanding strict adherence to his written lines – no ad-libbing allowed – which likely contributed to the film's tightly wound energy. It’s said he views the script as musical notation, each pause and inflection deliberate. This approach forces the actors to find truth within the precise structure, a challenge this cast navigates brilliantly. Imagine the pressure, delivering those intricate lines under the watchful eye of the man who wrote them!
One fascinating layer is how the film skewers the very idea of artistic purity. Hoffman's character clings to the integrity of his play, centered around the symbolic "Old Mill" representing steadfast values. Yet, the entire production is built on lies, compromises, and the need to digitally create the mill they came to find. It’s a meta-commentary wrapped in a farce, asking what "truth" even means when filtered through the lens of commercial filmmaking. The budget was reportedly around $10 million, a modest sum even then, reinforcing its indie spirit against the blockbuster machine it satirizes.
### Lasting Impressions
State and Main might not have the sweeping nostalgia of an 80s blockbuster, but it possesses a different kind of charm – the wry satisfaction of watching clever people trade barbs, perfectly capturing a specific kind of industry cynicism that remains relevant. It’s a film you might have stumbled upon late one night at the video store, drawn in by the cast list, and been rewarded with something smarter and funnier than expected. It feels like a snapshot of indie filmmaking at the turn of the millennium, sharp-edged and unafraid to bite the hand that feeds it.
The performances are uniformly excellent, with Macy and Hoffman grounding the absurdity in relatable anxieties, while Baldwin seems to revel in playing the charmingly problematic movie star. It’s a film that appreciates intelligence – both in its construction and in its audience.
Rating: 8/10
This score reflects the razor-sharp script, the impeccable ensemble cast firing on all cylinders, and Mamet's confident direction. It achieves exactly what it sets out to do: satirize Hollywood with wit and precision. It might lack broad emotional strokes, but its intellectual bite and comedic timing are undeniable.
It leaves you pondering the strange dance between art and commerce, idealism and pragmatism – a dance that continues long after the cameras stop rolling and the crew packs up, leaving the small town to wonder what just hit it. A gem worth rediscovering, even if the mill itself was never really there.