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July 20, 2007 10:04 AM
FRIDAY FLICK: State and Main
Like About Last Night (which Keris has lent me and I must watch soon!), State and Main is based on a play by David Mamet. There's both a Sex and the City and a Desperate Housewives connection, as it stars Sarah Jessica Parker and husband of Felicity Huffman William H. Macy. It's an ensemble piece and the massive cast also includes Julia Stiles, Alec Baldwin and Phillip Seymour Hoffman.
The film's about a Hollywood film crew who descend on a small American town and turn the whole place upside down. It's a satire on the silliness involved in filming on location, and therein lies a bit of a problem, as the film's basically an in-joke for anyone who's ever been in that experience (i.e. not most of us!) It's really not as funny as I wanted it to be but has moments of great wit and charm. One to smirk along with rather than laugh out loud at, perhaps.
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Posted by DIANE SHIPLEY on July 20, 2007 in American Authors, Friday Flick, Television | Permalink
Comments
This film isn't even funny for those who get the "in-jokes." I live in Hollywood and worked in film and TV, and yes those businesses are utterly ridiculous and lend themselves to parody, but this film just didn't do it well. A much, much better, much, much funnier film is Steve Martin's Bowfinger. Or even LA Story, which is less about the film industry and more about how silly life in LA is.
Posted by: Lucie Simone | July 20, 2007 4:28 PM
Or even The Player, which is a fantastic parody. Not to mention very clever. (Unfortunately I find both those aforementioned Steve Martin films quite silly.) To go waaaaay back, The Bad and the Beautiful - now that WAS a great film!
Posted by: maz | July 20, 2007 5:04 PM
well, the best film about film is Singin' in the Rain, no question. But I found State and Main to be not a bad film. I did like Bowfinger a lot when it came out - especially when I realised the Heather Graham character was based on Anne Heche (allegedly!) x
Posted by: DIANE SHIPLEY | July 20, 2007 5:58 PM
I loved Bowfinger, but I've got a friend who still goes on about it now: "What was that film you recommended to me? It was sooooo bad! Was it meant to be funny?" etc.
How I love Singin' in the Rain. :) I still haven't seen The Player, but I quite enjoyed State and Main. My husb hated it tho (but then he can't stand SJP. Or Alec Baldwin).
Posted by: Keris | July 20, 2007 6:16 PM
Hey! Hands of SITR, that's in a class of it's own, swoon.... ?apostrophe okay? (I tired!)
Posted by: maz | July 20, 2007 6:33 PM
Oh, I forgot about The Player! Yes, that was a good one. And the ending was hilarious with the screenwriter selling out and changing the ending of his script to get his film made. In entertainment, as in publishing, one's work, no matter how fabulous, is always fiddled with once it gets sold. But I still love the ending of Bowfinger with the "Kung Fu Fighting" scene from their next picture. Hilarious! I practically fell out of my seat laughing when I saw that the first time.
Posted by: Lucie Simone | July 20, 2007 6:44 PM
Hey, Lucie! Have you just spoilt the ending of The Player for me...? ;)
Posted by: Keris | July 20, 2007 7:04 PM
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