"State and Main" 2000

“State and Main”

Writing about Phillip Seymour Hoffman yesterday got me thinking about other movies of his that I liked. “State and Main” is pretty star studded. Alec Baldwin, William H. Macy and Sarah Jessica Parker to name a few.

Hoffman is Joseph Turner White and he has written a movie that is set in a small town. They need to find one with an Old Mill, since the movie is called, “The Old Mill”. It isn’t until everything is set up and ready to go that the director discovers that the Old Mill burnt down years ago.

Joseph Turner White: How do I do a film called "The Old Mill" when I don't have an old mill?
Ann Black: Well, first you've got to change the title.

It is a great comedy, smart and funny. There is the mix of local politics and Hollywood.

Alec is an actor with a bad habit.

Walt Price: What does he like?
Bill Smith: 14-year-old girls.
Walt Price: Well, get him something else. We want to get out of this town alive. Get him half a 28-year-old girl. How's my math?

Sarah Jessica Parker is an actress that has shared her assets before, but doesn’t want to this time to the dismay of the producers.

Walt Price: What does that woman WANT from life?
Marty Rossen: She wants $800,000 to show her tits.

But Phillip Seymour Hoffman steals the show. He has great chemistry with a Rebecca Pigeon who plays a local book seller that makes him challenge himself.

Joseph Turner White: You like kids?
Ann Black: Never saw the point of 'em.
Joseph Turner White: Me neither.

It is smart and funny and has more great one liners than I can quote here. Please I don’t want to give away too much.

Plus it is late, I am tired and it is past my bedtime. Let me get through this week. I will do better!