This is a complete waste of time. A lame movie chalk full of many great actors. Did all these guys owe the director a favor??? I'm really not fond of movies about making a movie, especially when they're supposed to be "comedy" but with a some what serious tone. It was extremely tedious.
The subtle solitude of the small town with the extravagant excess of Hollywood. Such a great movie about movies. This is an acquired type of humor but it is the best kind of laugh.
Walt Price: How are we coming with the dead horse scene? Marty Rossen: You can't actually kill the horse. Walt Price: Aw, fuck me!
Writer/Director David Mamet uses his style of dialog in a new fashion, comedy. This is a very funny movie with a great ensemble cast.
The movie revolves around a movie crew who was recently kicked out of a small town during production for some sketchy circumstances, and have now just arrived in a small Vermont town, where they will now upset their ways.
Amidst the movie crew there is Philip Seymour Hoffman as the writer, William H Macy and David Paymer as director and producer, and Alec Baldwin and Sarah Jessica Parker as actors.
Among them, Hoffman is great as a writer unfamiliar with the ways of Hollywood. At one point he is forced to simply create a new title and settings for the film, because the movie which is called "The Old Mill," cannot film at the old mill, because it burned down.
Meanwhile, Macy and Paymer have to struggle with more funding through product placement involving somehow having "bazoomer.com" mentioned in an 18th century period film.
Town Man: What happened to his finger? Ann Black: It was burned, then it was really hurt.
What makes everything work so well is the Mamet style dialog, which I enjoy. Even though it is still laden with profanity, the movie glides along so smoothly with the little talking rhythms between the actors.
It is a very funny movie, with quirky characters, and fun stuff involving Hollywood vs. Small town society.
Ann Black: And here's some hydrogen peroxide. Joseph Turner White: I don't drink. Ann Black: It's for your finger.
Suggested watching this with my friends at the cinema but we were in year 8 and no one enjoyed it so I was blamed (of course). Rewatched and liked it. Funny that
I'd never actually heard of this movie and then suddenly had two people mention it at once. It turned out to be a completely delightful comedy. I laughed out loud a few times, but mostly just enjoyed the story. Great dialogue, great plot, great acting, great characters... definitely worth sitting down and spending an evening watching it!
This is one of the most creative and thoughtful comedies ever made, but is relatively unknown. David Mamet directs an all star cast, in this satirically true portrayal of the film industry as it collides with a small town. And I do mean collides. The comedy seems effortless as the actors aren't merely playing at being funny, they embody their wacky character counterparts, and those characters will have you crying with laughter. The wit of the dialogue in this comedy (Also written by Mamet) stands out above all and the comic timing is spot on, as anyone with a working knowledge of scriptwriting will tell you is a difficult feat indeed. A must see movie, especially for those who have some experience with the film industry.
MCT:July 28, 2008
MCT:May 16, 2008
MCT:April 18, 2008
MCT:March 22, 2008
MCT:February 24, 2007
MCT:January 20, 2007
MCT:August 3, 2006
