State and Main (2000)

Synopsis: Financially flummoxed filmmakers find farm folk, foment frustration, frequent faux pas.

Blurb From the VHS Jacket: “BIG MOVIE. SMALL TOWN. HUGE TROUBLE! When a big-budget film crew takes over a small town, they shoot first...and ask questions later.”

What Did I Learn?: The best way to make a statutory rape prosecution go away is to hand the prosecutor a bag full of cash.

You Might Like This Movie If: You’re an Alec Baldwin fan because he seems like such a witty and charming guy.

Really?: 1) Wouldn’t the film crew have done a better job of scouting the town (such as actually visiting the old mill depicted in the town’s brochure) before they decided to shoot there? 2) The film refers to a number of suspicious fires that occurred in 1960, presumably at the hands of a frustrated teenager. I expected the film to identify a 50-something character (the Mayor? The Chief of Police?) as the culprit, and yet...

Rating: State and Main is an amoral (Alec Baldwin sleeps with an under-aged girl, she digs him, and it’s the prosecutor who’s a dick), yet funny and cleverly-written all-star ensemble comedy. 8/10 stars.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0120202/