Edmond (film)

Last updated
Edmond
Edmondposter.jpg
Promotional poster
Directed by Stuart Gordon
Written by David Mamet
Based on Edmond
by David Mamet
Produced byChris Hanley
Molly Hassell
Duffy Hecht
Stuart Gordon
Roger Kass
Mary McCann
Kevin Ragsdale
Ryan R. Johnson
Starring William H. Macy
Joe Mantegna
Mena Suvari
Denise Richards
Bokeem Woodbine
Julia Stiles
CinematographyDenis Maloney
Edited byAndy Horvitch
Music by Bobby Johnston
Production
companies
Muse Productions
Tartan Films
Code Entertainment
Werner Films
120dB Films
Pretty Dangerous Films
The Hecht Company
Distributed by First Independent Pictures
Release dates
Running time
82 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Box office$243,524 [1]

Edmond is a 2005 American thriller film directed by Stuart Gordon and starring William H. Macy, based on the 1982 play Edmond by David Mamet. Mamet also wrote the screenplay for the film. Edmond features Julia Stiles, Rebecca Pidgeon, Denise Richards, Mena Suvari, Joe Mantegna, Bai Ling, Jeffrey Combs, Dylan Walsh and George Wendt in supporting roles. It was screened at several film festivals from September 2005 to May 2006, and had a limited release on July 14, 2006.

Contents

Plot

Edmond Burke is a middle-aged New York City businessman who visits a tarot fortune teller on the way home. The fortune teller, a little startled, tells him that "you are not where you belong". He decides to make changes in his life, beginning by leaving his wife. At a bar, Edmond tells a fellow patron that he has not had sex in a while and that marriage took away his masculinity. The man gives him the address to a strip club, where Edmond is kicked out by a bouncer for not paying for a stripper's drink. Now even more sexually frustrated, Edmond goes to a peep show; having never been to such a place before, he is disappointed when he realizes that he is not allowed to have actual sex with the performer.

Next Edmond goes to a white-collar bordello, but cannot afford a hooker. He needs money, so he plays a three-card Monte game with a street dealer. When Edmond accuses the dealer of cheating, the dealer and his shill beat him up and steal his money. Edmond becomes enraged by what he sees as the contempt, prejudice and greed of society. He pawns his wedding ring in exchange for a knife. He is approached by a pimp who offers Edmond a "clean girl" and lures him to an alleyway, where the pimp attempts to mug him. In a wild rage, Edmond attacks the pimp with his knife while hurling racial slurs at him. He leaves him wounded and possibly dying in the alley.

Suddenly euphoric, Edmond enters a coffee shop and tells a young waitress, Glenna, his newfound worldview of instant gratification. They end up having sex at her apartment. Glenna likes him at first, but she is soon frightened by his increasingly erratic behavior and calls for help. An enraged Edmond slashes her to death, blaming her own insecurity for her murder. On a subway train, he has an angry confrontation with a female passenger. Edmond comes across a church service where a minister preaches about respect and faith. Edmond feels the urge to preach about his own experiences, and as he stands in the doorway of the church, the woman from the subway recognizes him and calls into the street for the police. The responding officer pats Edmond down to find the knife in his front jacket pocket. Edmond is arrested.

In jail, Edmond begins to appreciate the security of his old life, but it is too late; the police have reason to believe that the knife found in Edmond's pocket may be the weapon used in Glenna's murder. The interrogating officer bluntly asks Edmond why he killed Glenna, to Edmond's shock and disbelief. He is sent to prison for her murder. There, Edmond is paired with a black cellmate. He likes prison because it is simple. He speaks of how he has always feared black people, but now that he shares a room with one, he can finally feel a bond. The indifferent cellmate then forces Edmond to perform oral sex on him. Edmond tells a prison minister what happened, but goes off on a tangent, shouting that God has been unfair to him. When the minister asks why he murdered the waitress, he has no answer.

Years pass. Edmond has cut connections with the outside world, refusing to see visitors. He talks to his cellmate, with whom he has developed a relationship, about the human ego and how life should not be taken for granted. He concludes that by conquering his fears, he might lead a better life. Both men ponder the afterlife. Edmond then goes to sleep comfortably alongside his cellmate. True to the tarot fortune teller's words, Edmond might well have found the place where he belongs.

Cast

Reception

The film received mixed reviews from critics. The review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes reported that 47% of critics gave the film positive reviews, based on 74 reviews. The website's consensus reads, "Despite an electrifying performance by William H. Macy, David Mamet's one-act morality play translates poorly into a film that is overburdened by dialogue." [2] Metacritic reported the film had an average score of 61 out of 100, based on 21 reviews, indicating "Generally favorable reviews". [3]

The New York Times film critic Stephen Holden said:

William H. Macy is perfectly cast... a master at playing sticks of human dynamite in mild-mannered camouflage... the nerviest screen performance of his career.
A faithful adaptation of the one-act play from 1982... its taunting insistence that everyone is racist, voiced in abrasive, staccato Mamet-speak, leaves you feeling battered and vaguely guilty. As in much of Mr. Mamet's work, there is a quality of adolescent nose-thumbing, as though it all might be a cruel practical joke designed solely to make us squirm... it was certainly unforgettable. [4]

Awards

Wins and nominations

YearGroupAwardWonNotes
2005 Deauville American Film Festival Grand Jury Prize Stuart GordonNo
Newport International Film Festival Achievement Award ActingYes
2006 Mar del Plata Film Festival Best Actor Award William H. MacyYes

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">David Mamet</span> American playwright, filmmaker, and author (born 1947)

David Alan Mamet is an American playwright, filmmaker, and author.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">William H. Macy</span> American actor (born 1950)

William Hall Macy Jr. is an American actor, director, screenwriter, and producer. He is two-time Emmy Award and four-time Screen Actors Guild Award winner, and has been nominated for an Academy Award, a Drama Critics' Circle Award, and five Golden Globe Awards.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Joe Mantegna</span> American actor (born 1947)

Joseph Anthony Mantegna is an American actor. He has starred in the CBS television series Criminal Minds since 2007 as FBI Supervisory Special Agent David Rossi. He has voiced the recurring role of mob boss Fat Tony on the animated series The Simpsons, beginning with the 1991 episode "Bart the Murderer", as well as The Simpsons Movie (2007).

<i>Spartan</i> (film) 2004 film by David Mamet

Spartan is a 2004 American action thriller film written and directed by David Mamet and starring Val Kilmer, Derek Luke, Tia Texada, Ed O'Neill, William H. Macy, and Kristen Bell. It was released in the United States and Canada on March 12, 2004.

<i>Speed-the-Plow</i> 1988 play written by David Mamet

Speed-the-Plow is a 1988 play by David Mamet that is a satirical dissection of the American movie business. As stated in The Producer's Perspective, "this is a theme Mamet would revisit in his later films Wag the Dog (1997) and State and Main (2000)". As quoted in The Producer's Perspective, Jack Kroll of Newsweek described Speed-the-Plow as "another tone poem by our nation's foremost master of the language of moral epilepsy."

Lakeboat is a semi-autobiographical play by David Mamet, written in 1970 and first produced in 1980.

<i>State and Main</i> 2000 American film

State and Main is a 2000 American comedy film written and directed by David Mamet and starring William H. Macy, Sarah Jessica Parker, Alec Baldwin, Julia Stiles, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Rebecca Pidgeon, David Paymer, Patti LuPone, Clark Gregg, and Charles Durning.

<i>The Spanish Prisoner</i> 1997 film by David Mamet

The Spanish Prisoner is a 1997 American neo-noir suspense film, written and directed by David Mamet and starring Campbell Scott, Steve Martin, Rebecca Pidgeon, Ben Gazzara, Felicity Huffman and Ricky Jay. It tells a story of corporate espionage conducted through an elaborate confidence game.

<i>Homicide</i> (1991 film) 1991 film by David Mamet

Homicide is a 1991 American crime drama film written and directed by David Mamet. The film's cast includes Joe Mantegna, William H. Macy, and Ving Rhames. It was entered in the 1991 Cannes Film Festival.

<i>Oleanna</i> (play) Play written by David Mamet

Oleanna is a 1992 two-character play by David Mamet, about the power struggle between a university professor and one of his female students, who accuses him of sexual harassment and, by doing so, spoils his chances of being accorded tenure. The play's title, taken from a folk song, refers to a 19th-century escapist vision of utopia. Mamet adapted his play into a 1994 film of the same name.

<i>House of Games</i> 1987 David Mamet film

House of Games is a 1987 American neo-noir film about con-men and confidence scams by David Mamet, his directorial debut. He also wrote the screenplay, based on a story he co-wrote with Jonathan Katz. The film's cast includes Lindsay Crouse, Joe Mantegna, Ricky Jay, and J. T. Walsh.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Stuart Gordon</span> American film and theatre director and writer (1947–2020)

Stuart Alan Gordon was an American filmmaker, theatre director, screenwriter, and playwright. Initially recognized for his provocative and frequently controversial work in experimental theatre, Gordon began directing films in 1985. Most of Gordon's cinematic output was in the horror genre, though he also ventured into science fiction and film noir.

Edmond is a one-act play written by David Mamet. It premiered at the Goodman Theatre in Chicago, on June 4, 1982. The first New York production was October 27 of the same year, at the Provincetown Playhouse. The play consists of twenty-three short scenes. In the original production, each of the actors took on multiple roles, save the two playing Edmond and his wife. Kenneth Branagh starred as Edmond in a production of the play in London in 2003.

<i>Things Change</i> (film) 1988 American drama film by David Mamet

Things Change is a 1988 American comedy-drama film directed by David Mamet and starring Joe Mantegna and Don Ameche. It was co-written by Mamet and Shel Silverstein.

<i>Internal Affairs</i> (film) 1990 American crime thriller film directed by Mike Figgis

Internal Affairs is a 1990 American crime thriller film directed by Mike Figgis, written by Henry Bean, and starring Richard Gere and Andy García.

<i>Stuck</i> (2007 film) 2007 Canadian film

Stuck is a 2007 black comedy thriller film directed by Stuart Gordon and starring Mena Suvari and Stephen Rea, with a plot inspired by the true story of the murder of Gregory Glenn Biggs. The film premiered on May 21, 2007 at the Cannes Film Market. It was later adapted in Bollywood as Accident on Hill Road starring Celina Jaitley in Mena Suvari's role. It was the final film Gordon directed before his death.

<i>Redbelt</i> 2008 film by David Mamet

Redbelt is a 2008 American martial arts film written and directed by David Mamet and starring Chiwetel Ejiofor, Tim Allen, Alice Braga, Randy Couture, Ricky Jay, Joe Mantegna, Emily Mortimer, David Paymer, Rebecca Pidgeon, and Rodrigo Santoro. The film also features a number of martial arts professionals. It opened in wide release in the United States and Canada on May 9, 2008. The film centers on a martial arts master who struggles to achieve financial stability without compromising on his strict set of morals, and must determine if the latest opportunities in his career are too good to be true.

<i>The Water Engine</i> 1977 play by David Mamet

The Water Engine is a 1977 play by David Mamet that centers on the violent suppression of a disruptive alternative energy technology.

Lionel Mark Smith was an American film and theater actor.

The Water Engine is an American historical drama television film directed by Steven Schachter and written by David Mamet, based on his 1977 play of the same name. The film stars Patti LuPone, William H. Macy, John Mahoney, Joe Mantegna, and Treat Williams. It was released on TNT on August 24, 1992.

References

  1. "Edmond".
  2. "Edmond". Rotten Tomatoes . Retrieved January 23, 2023.
  3. "Edmond (2006): Reviews". Metacritic . Retrieved 2008-03-21.
  4. Holden, Stephen (July 14, 2006). "In 'Edmond,' William H. Macy Is Desperate and Frustrated, and He Won't Take It Anymore". The New York Times . Retrieved March 21, 2008.