Reviewed by Neil Davey
Stars William H Macy, Julia Stiles, Mena Suvari,
Bai Ling, Joe Mantegna, Denise Richards,
Dylan Walsh, Rebecca Pidgeon, Bokeem Woodbine
Written by David Mamet
Certification UK 18 | US R
Runtime 82 minutes
Directed by Stuart Gordon
Edmond. Crazy film, crazy guy ... but it packs quite a punch and a surprising amount of detail — not all of it easy viewing — in its laudably brief running time. Macy plays the titular character — I won't say hero for reasons that will become obvious — a dull, predictable midle-management type who receives a cryptic message from a fortune teller — "you are not where you belong" — and uses that as an excuse to change his life. In the space of a night he goes from dull married man to far more interesting and separated murderer, following a night exploring the darker side of the city.
Edmond's problem is that he confuses seediness for "real" life. It might be liberating and different but, as circumstances show, he's clearly not equipped for the underbelly. Initially, this is naively amusing, especially in his negotiations with sex workers: "Oh that's too much," he moans when confronted with a bill for a in a strip club for $100 for two drinks, and again when discussing prices with a prostitute (Suvari). His concerns for the prostitute's feelings are also oddly sweet, asking if it's okay to wear a condom but not wanting to offend her or insinuate that she might be carrying something.
Circumstances though force Edmond to "grow up" quickly. A purchased knife becomes both his talisman and his downfall. The sense of freedom he earns from attacking a would-be attacker clearly fills him with joy and releases his repression, in a stilted racist diatribe that is guaranteed to unsettle middle England, but then that's kind of the point. However, when he's unable to get his point across fully to the waitress he picks up (Stiles), her apparent inability to grasp his quest for "honesty" and "real life" frustrates him and he lashes out, possibly accidentally, with tragic results.
Based on David Mamet's play — and directed, for some odd reason, by Re-Animator's Stuart Gordon — Edmond is a bold and intriguing tale that takes a major theme — what is the difference between being alive and living? — and then twists it, via the customary clipped dialogue, into a most unusual form. Macy's natural performance and Mamet's dialogue do not sit easily at first, although perhaps that's planned too: it makes Edmond appear even more out of his depth, a likeable but tragic figure who clearly doesn't know what he's meant to be doing or how he got to this place. He just knows it needs to change. Edmond is not easy viewing — that stilted racist diatribe is very uncomfortable — but things flip around to a surprisingly tender finish that provides a lovely about face to much of what has gone before. Regardless of its flaws, this is a film that demands discussion and that's something that's always worth celebrating.