The astonishingly prolific writer-director David Mamet
re-visits similar territory to his play
Speed-the-Plow in this tale of a production crew
that arrives in a small American town to make a movie
and meets with both hope and hostility from the local
community. It is a light-hearted feature often
reminiscent of past films about filmmaking such as
Day For Night and Le Mepris and could very well be
Mamet's funniest and most enjoyable feature to date.
Having left New Hampshire in a hurry after an
unspeakable and mysterious incident, a film crew is
forced to relocate to Waterford, Vermont, in order to
shoot some scenes in the town's old mill. By the time
the neurotic troupe of actors and producers arrives in
Waterford, tensions are already running high. Once
filming has commenced, the production is further
plagued by a series of catastrophes that includes the
distressing revelation that the town's mill actually
burned down forty years ago.
The film's characters are all comically stereotypical
movie people, such as the temperamental actress who
refuses to do nudity (Sarah Jessica Parker); a
scriptwriter (Philip Seymour Hoffman) who is anxious
that the film upholds the purity of his vision; a
leading man (Alec Baldwin) with self-destructive
tastes for drinking and young girls; and an
unscrupulous producer (a wonderfully savage David
Paymer) who is investigating ways of fitting a dotcom
product placement into the period drama that they are
making.
Mamet's crackling script succeeds in combining both
relentless satire of the movie industry and quirky
observation of life in small town USA. The film boasts
assured performances from a tremendous cast, and
especially from Mamet regulars Alec Baldwin and
William H. Macy, who plays his role as Walt Price, the
acerbic and ruthless director, with obvious relish.
Despite the caustic characteristics of several of the
main characters, this remains a surprisingly
affectionate and gentle comedy that is well worth
checking out.
Reviewed by Chris Wiegand
See what other kamera.co.uk readers thought about this film
