**sigh**... Meet me at State & Main

I saw the ads for State & Main a few times on tv before I actually went out to see it. The commercials give you plenty of reasons to go see this movie, and when I did, I finally decided that there would have to be room made in my top-ten movie list for this one. SOLID GOLD.

While the let's-make-fun-of-movie-people-for-a-surefire-laugh movie genre seems to have been beaten like a dead horse, I am willing to acknowledge that this movie, much like Bowfinger, seems to have really done the trick nicely.

The film takes place in a tiny little Vermont town, really, a true picture of small-town America at its best. The mayor is the entire city council, and everyone knows everyone else. Then, of course, in comes the insenstive Hollywood-types to rape and pillage the city, making way for a movie featuring Hot-Shot Bob Berringer (Alec Baldwin), who seems to have a few bad habits, he has to hide. Macy plays the outrageously flaky director, ever cold and uncaring to those with real problems, but always ready to pander to his starlet, Claire (Sarah Jessica Parker). Meanwhile, lumped into all of this is the film's young, new-to-hollywood writer, Joeseph Turner White (Philip Seymour Hoffman). Throughout the movie, when things go awry, everything ends up flowing back to the talented but troubled writer, and this is what makes for the eventful and hilarious plot.

Berringer, like many Hollywood stars, has a rather awful habit, his being chasing after teenage girls. When he becomes involved with a teenager from the small Vermont town, all he can wait for is trouble. The writer, meanwhile, has found himself involved with a local bookseller, who WAS engaged to be married with a would-be politician... eventually, they all come togethr in a climactic scene that ends up displaying the true question of the movie: Do you get a second chance?

At any rate, I loved this film... completely. The charming Philip Seymour Hoffman had me entranced, the plot was incredibly well-orchestrated, and the biting cynicism used in the portrayal of the Hollywood people made me laugh uncontrollably, at times.

If you're a cynic, if you enjoy great comedy, or if you want to see Alec Baldwin behaving badly, this is a great movie for you. It displays small-town America in a different light, and a twist at the end is just what is needed to really hit the spot.

Keep Watching!
-=J=-