SOURCE: Macnab, Geoffrey. Review of State and Main, by David Mamet. Sight and Sound 11, no. 2 (February 2001): 52-3.

In the following review, Macnab pans State and Main for a loosely formed plot, laborious visual gags, and a lack of deftness usually displayed in Mamet's work.

A movie crew arrives in Waterford, Vermont to shoot a feature [in Mamet's film, State and Main]. Director Walt Price needs an old mill for the film, which is set in the 19th century, but discovers the town doesn't have one—although its tourist brochure claims otherwise. Writer Joe White is assigned to revise his screenplay to make the most of Waterford as it stands. When his manual typewriter goes missing, bookshop owner Ann Black provides him with a replacement. Ann becomes friends with Joe and breaks off her engagement to Doug Mackenzie, an ambitious local politician.

Meanwhile, lead actress Claire objects to scenes...