State and Main
Fine Line Features | Release Date: December 22, 2000 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
75
METASCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 26 Critic Reviews
Positive:
22
Mixed:
4
Negative:
0
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
100
Rolling StonePeter Travers
You may want to revisit this profanely hilarious Hollywood satire. . .just to catch the zingers the audience often drowns out with laughter. Hollywood corrupts absolutely, and Mamet turns the toxic process into the year's best and smartest comedy. Read full review
100
Film.comErnest Hardy
Writer/director David Mamet, who's built a career in both theater and film by being a hyper-manly sort of writer, has crafted a film that is laugh out loud funny and dinner-conversation smart. Read full review
91
Portland OregonianShawn Levy
Bouncing giddily from subplot to subplot and wisecrack to wisecrack, Mamet and company (and this is one of the truest ensemble works in years) satirize the slippery morals of the film racket and the surface-only decency of small town America. Read full review
90
VarietyEddie Cockrell
A bona fide populist laugh riot. Read full review
90
Los Angeles TimesKenneth Turan
A quintessentially wised-up insider comedy, ideally cast and filled with sharp writing from start to finish. Read full review
88
New York Daily NewsJack Mathews
Gently hilarious comedy. Read full review
88
Baltimore SunChris Kaltenbach
A snarling satire of Hollywood single-mindedness and its lack of any moral underpinning.
88
New York PostLou Lumenick
Hilarious sweet and sour David Mamet comedy. Read full review
83
Entertainment WeeklyOwen Gleiberman
Delectably caustic comedy. Read full review
80
Dallas ObserverBill Gallo
This is probably the funniest Mamet piece to date (but not the weightiest), and it might be destined to take a seat alongside "The Player" and "Sunset Boulevard" in the front row of movieland satires. Read full review
80
Chicago ReaderJonathan Rosenbaum
I laughed a lot at the anti-Hollywood humor and generally had a fine time, in spite of the holier-than-thou hypocrisy that makes this movie easily and even intentionally Mamet's most Hollywoodish picture to date. Read full review
80
Washington PostDesson Thomson
Relentlessly funny satire. Read full review
78
Austin ChronicleKimberley Jones
Mamet does a shrewdly skillful job with these Tinseltown terrors. Read full review
75
Philadelphia InquirerDesmond Ryan
His (Mamet) direction is unobtrusive, unflashy, and always willing to allow the hilarious cast all the room it needs. Read full review
75
USA TodayMike Clark
As close as anything could be to a light Mamet comedy. Read full review
75
Boston GlobeJay Carr
Good clean dirty fun. Read full review
75
Miami HeraldSara Wildberger
A surfeit of farce and fast-talking makes up for a lack of plot. Read full review
75
Christian Science MonitorDavid Sterritt
Mamet's screenplay is full of savvy satire and the cast couldn't be better. Read full review
75
San Francisco ChronicleMick LaSalle
Mamet finds an angle just new enough to be fresh. Read full review
75
Chicago Sun-TimesRoger Ebert
It's Mamet in a lighthearted mood, playing with dialogue, repeating phrases just because he likes them, and supplying us with a closing line that achieves, I think, a kind of greatness. Read full review
70
TV Guide MagazineMaitland McDonagh
Mamet's jabs at Tinseltown's silken ruthlessness are quietly pointed, and the ensemble cast -- even the brittle and sometimes annoying Pidgeon (Mamet's wife) -- is brilliant. Read full review
63
Chicago TribuneMarc Caro
Mamet's movie has its moments of wit and warmth, but here he's mostly behind, not ahead of, the curve.
60
SalonCharles Taylor
At its best, State and Main is fast and sharp, but when a movie like this goes off the rails, it's more disappointing than when a bad movie does. Read full review
58
Mr. ShowbizKevin Maynard
For all its wit and sharp casting, State and Main is way too pleased with itself to be funny or endearing. Read full review
50
Village VoiceJessica Winter
State and Main is a Hollywood satire as cynical and thickheaded as its supposed targets. Read full review
40
The New York TimesStephen Holden
A surprisingly unpolished piece of work that plays as though it were written for the stage and only slightly modified for the screen. Read full review
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