Edmond

William H. Macy is nothing short of spectacular in this film, as was every other actor that graced the screen. The performances were a real credit to both the actor's creativity and the masterful direction of Stuart Gordon. Not to mention a pretty interesting, yet, twisted script by Mamet. This is a film that very easily could've fallen apart, being an adaptation of a stage play and all, yet Stuart Gordon weaves it all together masterfully, with yet the smallest and finest of threads. Mamet is not an easy guy to do. However, the entire cast and crew associated with "Edmond" all do it masterfully.

NYC Filmmaker

At first glance, horror meister Stuart Gordon would not seem the obvious choice to direct an emotional psycho-drama cinematic rendering of a David Mamet play, yet with Edmond, he displays a deft touch for the material and allows the actors to carry the day.

Originally penned as a stage play, Edmond tells the story of namesake Edmond Burke (William H. Macy), a mundane white collar worker who has spent his entire life being a faceless cog in the big industrial machine. The rescheduling of a business appointment to 1:15 (a number which re-occurs in the film) propels him to idle away his time with a visit to a tarot reader who tells him he's not where he's supposed to be. From there he begins a slow spiral into depravity and insanity that begins with telling his wife he's leaving her and progresses to an outback-like dreamwalk into New York City's seedy underbelly of bars pimps and prostitutes.

Written in the wake of a divorce, Mamet infuses the script with racial discourse and epithets that are stunning in their caustic vulgarity as Edmond pours out years of pent up hatred on one of his muggers revealing a window into his shallow soul that only becomes more intensely evident as the movie reaches its conclusion.

In the scene where Edmond tells his wife their marriage is over, he explains to her that she hasn't satisfied him spiritually or emotionally for quite some time. Yet, after watching his progression trough the course of the story, it becomes clear that spiritually he has no soul, and emotionally he's a shallow but volatile cauldron of disjointed thoughts.

The film is a tour-de-force for Macy, who is in every scene and morphs from a character of Caspar Milquetoast proportions to unhinged bigoted psychopath and back again by the movie's end. Along the way he's complimented by solid performances from Joe Mantegna, Julia Stiles, Mena Suvari and Bokeem Woodbine. As if in a wink and nudge to his own work, Gordon even manages to insinuate longtime stalwart Jeffrey Combs into a small but telling scene during Edmond's descent into insanity.

By the time Edmond arrives at the end of that journey, however; at that place where he ought to be; I couldn't help but think he had merely wasted his life catching up to where his soul was long ago.

The incredible William Macy gives us a glimpse into real madness in EDMOND, a sort of FALLING DOWN for the new millennium. Macy's life begins to unravel, and he ends up falling into an urban hell where he encounters and sometimes gets rough with, or roughed up by, various seedy characters (this is supposed to be New York, but was shot in Hollywood). Macy is magnificent as this increasingly nutty human being, and nothing any actor has done before can touch it, including Michael Douglas playing a similar role in FALLING DOWN. He is the whole purpose of watching this movie, and the camera stays tight on his anguished face in many shots. Adapted from a play by the great David Mamet, EDMOND is must-viewing by a mature audience. Legendary horror director Stuart (RE-ANIMATOR) Gordon gives EDMOND a bloody touch or two or three, much like fellow horror director Reny Harlin did with DIE HARD 2. Interesting to note: Gordon regular Jeffrey Combs is among the cast, and both Combs and Macy will appear in Gordon's next RE-ANIMATOR sequel. Macy will try pretty much anything, I guess. And he rarely fails. He can go from playing a lovable but aging salesman to a gun-toting villain out to kill the president's daughter. Amazing.

It's always nice to watch William H. Macy act even though his character is almost the same as in Fargo. William H. Macy is the main character Edmond, a guy fed up with the attitude of others, that gets spiralled in a journey of bickering and violence. You could compare it a bit like Falling Down but that movie was just much better. I don't say Edmond is a bad movie, it's worth a watch, but to me there are just too much moments with endless pointless conversations, especially towards the end. The violence might make some people uncomfortable but to me it didn't, those were actually the best parts of the story.

This movie makes most people uncomfortable. It's not an easy movie to watch. Its like watching a gruesome accident but not being able to stop. Edmond is a middle age man going through a crisis. His life is meaningless and boring but he is content to plod along until a series of chance encounters leads him to the decision that he must leave his life, including his wife behind. Having hidden his true nature all of his life, he suddenly releases his pent up frustrations and in doing so, takes himself down a path, not of redemption but one of degradation. He is searching for something or someone to fill a void in his life and with his new purpose of self, he becomes in fact dangerous. The transformation of Edmond from mild mannered and dutiful citizen to an angry, rebellious zealot is fascinating. I immediately went out to buy this movie after purchasing it from Redbox. I am not surprised that this movie was never released widespread. It would surely have caused a huge ruckus in our politically correct society. I know I am being vague. But if you want to watch a movie that is totally different from the standard fare, then see this movie. The big surprise at the end is the actor Bokine Woodbine, who plays a significant but very small role, that puts a fitting end to this thoroughly entertaining, disturbing and engrossing movie. William H. Macy, is superb, and who knew that he actually has a great body for a man his age.