David Mamet's STATE & MAIN is very, very disappointing. Touting a top-notch cast and a possibility-laden plot it ultimately fails to achieve much with either. Between utter bewilderment with where this tangled storyline was going, and simply not caring where the mangled storyline was going, it became hard not to just reach for the remote and end the pain of chronic-yawning that set in during my viewing.
For a film boasting what one would assume could be a mesmerizing ensemble cast, including such previously great actors as William H. Macy, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Charles Durning, Julia Stiles, Sarah Jessica Parker and (the sometimes good) Alec Baldwin, it was incredibly disconcerting to see most of the actors either sleepwalk or ham-fist their way through their roles. The dialogue all sounded like it was written for a grade 10 high-school play and delivered with as much believability. I'd not be surprised to learn that either cue-cards or single takes were used in all scenes it became so unintentionally farcical. All that was missing was the "ba-dump-bump" drum-beat following the blatant punch-lines. Still, Philip Seymour Hoffman actually manages to be good while his comrades sink into the mire. And I can only assume that Rebecca Pidgeon's part was secured solely by sleeping with the director (her hubby) because she is simply GAWD-AWFUL throughout the film! Bottom line: the result is that I didn't care about the characters, the forced plights of the characters, the fictional film production company, the town, or the film "The Old Mill" or STATE & MAIN itself.
Mamet is a long way from the sharp, taut and biting scriptwork he delivered with GLENGARRY GLENROSS, but not far enough from the lackadaisical directing of THE SPANISH PRISONER or HEIST. It's sad to see and worse to sit through.
5/10. If only the whole town had burned down with the Old Mill...
For a film boasting what one would assume could be a mesmerizing ensemble cast, including such previously great actors as William H. Macy, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Charles Durning, Julia Stiles, Sarah Jessica Parker and (the sometimes good) Alec Baldwin, it was incredibly disconcerting to see most of the actors either sleepwalk or ham-fist their way through their roles. The dialogue all sounded like it was written for a grade 10 high-school play and delivered with as much believability. I'd not be surprised to learn that either cue-cards or single takes were used in all scenes it became so unintentionally farcical. All that was missing was the "ba-dump-bump" drum-beat following the blatant punch-lines. Still, Philip Seymour Hoffman actually manages to be good while his comrades sink into the mire. And I can only assume that Rebecca Pidgeon's part was secured solely by sleeping with the director (her hubby) because she is simply GAWD-AWFUL throughout the film! Bottom line: the result is that I didn't care about the characters, the forced plights of the characters, the fictional film production company, the town, or the film "The Old Mill" or STATE & MAIN itself.
Mamet is a long way from the sharp, taut and biting scriptwork he delivered with GLENGARRY GLENROSS, but not far enough from the lackadaisical directing of THE SPANISH PRISONER or HEIST. It's sad to see and worse to sit through.
5/10. If only the whole town had burned down with the Old Mill...