Films about filmmaking and the movie industry are generally becoming pretty trite stuff. And while David Mamet's playful "State and Main" is full of the writer's witty dialogue and wry commentary, but it generally fails to hit the mark. It is amusing and, at times, gently biting, in it's comedy. But it's romance, plot and characters never really catch hold.

The film revolves around a production company trying desperately to film a period piece. When the troupe comes to the typical idyllic small town in the Northeast, and tries to get the production started, numerous pitfalls abound. Mamet's commentary on big business Hollywood juxtaposed against small town sensibilities is really, really, old stuff. He injects much comedy into the piece but consistently, we get the feeling we've seen this plot a million times before.

One of the biggest problems with the film is the somewhat central romance between Phillip Seymore Hoffman and Rebecca Pidgeon. Hoffman never seems more than a one-note whiner in the film. His character seems flat and lifeless. His story is central to the theme and the plot of the film and yet Hoffman seems to be calling in the role. Pidgeon, meanwhile, with nothing to play off of from Hoffman, sort of disappears from having any meaningful purpose in the film.

William H. Macy, Alec Baldwin, and Sarah Jessica Parker have an enormous amount of fun with their parts. Of course, these are juicy roles they are given. Macy is a powerhouse as a director who will sink to any level to get his film rolling. And Parker's dimwitted actress fits in quite perfectly with the film's feel of Hollywood stupidity and how it effects everyone who comes in contact with it.

But "State and Main" fails on so many levels it has nothing but it's Mametian dialogue and it's humorous mode going for it. As a director, Mamet does do an awesome job of setting up and executing both the verbal jokes and the visual ones. But one wonders why he couldn't seem to capture the heart and soul of the film as well.

Note:

Also with Charles Durning, Patti LuPone, David Paymer, Julia Stiles, and Ricky Jay.

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