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State and Main
The residents of a small Vermont town don't know what hit them when a beleaguered Hollywood film crew brings a chaotic shoot to their quaint village.
2000 · Directed by David Mamet · 106 min · Comedy · Drama · Screenplay in the scene database · 3 frames
Tagline
Lock your windows. Hide your daughters. Say your prayers.
Plot
Havoc is wrought on the inhabitants of a small New England town by a troubled film production. After Bob Barrenger, the leading man's penchant for underage girls gets them banished from their New Hampshire location, the crew moves to the small town of Waterford, Vermont to finish shooting The Old Mill.
As its title suggests, the film depends on the presence of a genuine mill, something the town is reported to possess. Unfortunately, with only days before principal photography begins, it becomes apparent that the mill in fact burned down decades ago. Unfazed, the film's director, Walt Price, places his faith in the ability of first-time screenwriter Joseph Turner White to alter the script. What he doesn't count on is White's apparently bottomless reserve of angst-fueled writer's block. A local bookseller, Annie Black, tries to provide White with inspiration.
The film's leading lady, Claire Wellesley, refuses to do her contracted nude scene unless she's paid an additional $800,000, while the foreign cinematographer offends the locals by messing with a historic firehouse. Meanwhile, powerful movie producer Marty Rossen comes to town to help Price with the ensuing mess. Barrenger dallies with Carla, a crafty local teen.
Plot summary from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA.
Crew
- Screenplay: David Mamet
- Cinematography: Oliver Stapleton
- Edited by: Barbara Tulliver
- Music: Theodore Shapiro
- Production design: Gemma Jackson
- Produced by: Sarah Green
Cast
- Alec Baldwin as Bob Berrenger
- Philip Seymour Hoffman as Joseph Turner White
- Charles Durning as Mayor George Bailey
- Clark Gregg as Doug Mackenzie
- Patti LuPone as Sherry Bailey
- William H. Macy as Walt Price
- Sarah Jessica Parker as Claire Wellesley
- David Paymer as Marty Rossen
- Julia Stiles as Carla
- Rebecca Pidgeon as Ann
Production
- Country: France, United States of America
- Language: Italian, English
- Studios: Fine Line Features, Filmtown Entertainment Group, El Dorado Pictures, Green/Renzi
- Box office: $9,206,279
- Themes: small town, movie business, mayor, film in film, statutory rape, filmmaking, new england, book store, vermont
More by David Mamet
On this film
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