Edmond
February 2nd 2007 05:34
Gordon and Mamet have remained friends over the years and when Gordon saw a stage production of Mamet’s Edmond in 1982 he knew he wanted to make a movie of it. Twenty odd years later he finally gets around to it.
Using many of Mamet’s and Gordon’s acting regulars, as well as several A-listers in tiny roles, this very short movie (more of a featurette as it clocks in at around 70 minutes before end credits roll) is a dark, dark parable of confusion, frustration, angst, identity crisis, and a kind of redemption.
Edmond (a riveting performance from William H. Macy) is a deeply troubled man. He is insufferably trapped in his own humdrum life and is desperate for some sense of release, adventure, freedom. Basically, as one guy (Mamet stalwart Joe Mantegna) in a bar tells him, he needs to get laid.
He walks out on his wife (Mamet’s wife Rebecca Pidgeon) and hits the streets of the city (feels like New York). He enters a fortune teller’s joint and she lays the tarot cards down for him. They don’t paint a pretty picture. “You don’t belong here” hints the fortune teller. And as the tagline for the movie states; “If anything can go wrong, it will – and at the worst possible time.” Sounds like a Law called Murphy to me.
Back out on the street and he’s conned by a couple of 3-card monte sharks. He takes offense, knowing they’ve cheated him, and in return they beat and rob him. Now he’s broke and hurt. He purchases a nasty WWI survival knife from a pawn shop (using his wedding ring). A pimp cajoles him and then attempts to rob him, and Edmond snaps.
While Edmond deals with dark themes of anxiety and fear and the complicated hidden desires we harbour, often surfacing when we least expect them, the film is also a oddly funny movie. The humour is black though, pitch black.
It’s not Mamet’s best work by a long shot, but it tackles issues most other American films wouldn’t touch with a bargepole. Gordon illicits fine work from his entire cast, with some nice cameos; Jeffrey Combs (Re-Animator's Herbert West) plays a camp and disgruntled desk clerk picking away at fried chicken, Debi Mazar plays a brothel madam, Dylan Walsh (TV's Nip/Tuck) as an interrogator, and of course, there’s Joe Mantegna’s bourbon-tinged words of wisdom.
Edmond is a slap in the face of political correctness, full of foul-upon-foul language, and pillared by Macy’s extraordinary central performance. He was so made to play this role. Imagine Scorsese’s Taxi Driver and After Hours in a strip club with Gaspar Noe’s I Stand Alone and Mike Leigh’s Naked, and you’ll appreciate a little more the sleazy, bitter, yet thoughtful taste left in your mouth.
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Comment by JohnDoe
Film & TV on DVD
Great review though, I love your observations, I find myself still laughing at the tragic irony of the final shot.
Comment by Tracy
Movies and Life
Comment by Tracy
Movies and Life
Tracy
Comment by JohnDoe
Film & TV on DVD
You should be able to find Edmond on DVd without to much hassle, it came out about a month ago....
Comment by Bryn
Horrorphile
yes the irony ... the one word I completely forgot about using in my review, yet the intention was always there ... lol ... not sure about Macy's bald cap though ... lol
Tracy, if you're a fan of any of the actors it's worth checking out ... especially Macy, of course.
Comment by JohnDoe
Film & TV on DVD
Stuart Gordon did a good job of restraining himself so that the violence had a more immediate brutality.
Comment by Sisi
Comment by Cibbuano
Hunt Famous
Orble Post of the Day
Fat Cult
Techbreak
Your review made me think of After Hours, which you mentioned - I can almost imagine the style...
I'd like to see a review on Re-Animator...!
Comment by Bryn
Horrorphile
yeah, definitely a blackblackblack comedy it is ... the horror is layered like a fine film of cold sweat ....
For me Mamet's best is House of Games and The Spanish Prisoner.
Yeah, Gordon did restrain himself, one of the deleted scenes has the reverse shot of when he attacks the waitress revealing the full extent of her injuries, but I don't feel the sfx were that impressive (perhaps Gordon thought so as well and so decided against using it) ...
Cibby,
A review of Re-Animator will be one of my aces to be posted in the near future ...
On a separate note, Edmond has to be one of the most incendiary flicks as far as offensive language is concerned .... No wonder Gordon had such a hard time getting the film financed, no producer wanted to touch it due to its "racism" ...
Comment by JohnDoe
Film & TV on DVD