State and Main (2000) - a Movie Review of The Phantom Tollbooth

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State and Main (2000)
Directed by David Mamet
Starring Alec Baldwin, Charles Durning, Clark Gregg, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Patti LuPone, William H. Macy, Sarah Jessica Parker, David Paymer, Rebecca Pidgeon, Julia Stiles, Ricky Jay, Linda Kimbrough, Jim Frangione, Michael Higgins, Vinnie Gustafero

David Mamet's humorous look at the disruptions a movie shoot inflicts on a small town is a nice, little film that seems somewhat limited by its modesty. The cast is top-notch, with William H. Macy (Fargo) playing the
film's director, Philip Seymour Hoffman (Magnolia) as the writer, and Alec Baldwin (Glengarry Glen Ross) and Sarah Jessica Parker ("Sex and the City") as the lead actor and actress. But it's three lesser-known actors--Rebecca Pidgeon (Spanish Prisoner), David Paymer (Mr. Saturday Night) and Charles Durning (The Sting)--who provide the real spark.

The movie's first half is genuinely funny as Murphy's Law springs to life on the film's set--an important set burns to the ground, Parker's character refuses to do a nude scene, and Hoffman has an awful case of writer's
block. But then the movie becomes something of a commentary on the Lewinsky scandal, a topic that might have seemed current when Mamet was writing the screenplay but which seems awfully tired here. It's also a shame that Macy and Hoffman, two of my favorite actors, aren't given that much to do, and when the jokes run out of gas, the movie does, too.

J. Robert Parks 1/10/2001