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Edmond (2005)
Director: Stuart Gordon
Movie review
From Time Out London
The start of this grim fairy tale – adapted by David Mamet from his own 1982 play – is ominous in more ways than one. Not only does the titular salaryman’s encounter with a clairvoyant convince him to change his life – he immediately abandons his unsuspecting wife (Rebecca Pidgeon, naturally) for the neon-lit mean streets of sin city and, inevitably, a long, dark night of the soul – but the heavily brooding atmospherics hint that we, like Edmond (William H Macy, naturally), may be in for a confusing, even bruising ordeal.
For, as the wide-eyed everyman follows the advice of a barfly (Joe Mantegna…) by visiting bars and bordellos in search of revitalising sex, it’s impossible to tell whether the endless humiliations he suffers or his subsequent manic exhilaration at rediscovering his ‘masculine’ ability to take control is meant as a metaphor for the alienated plight of modern man or as satirical black comedy. That it’s hardly funny suggests the former; that it’s absurdly overwrought the latter. Either way, the film fatally duplicates not only the casual sexism of its white males, but also – in its crude depiction of various black characters – the racism to which they give characteristically repetitive Mametian voice. There’s homophobia, too, of course; and if the coda’s deep irony mitigates against such charges, that doesn’t stop the rest of the movie leaving a sour taste.
Representational ethics apart, the film piles cliché upon cliché, and any claims its authors may make to its serving as a parable are undermined by the ludicrously compressed and melodramatic nature of Edmond’s odyssey. But be thankful it’s not longer; at 80 minutes, one may still derive some perverse pleasure from the silliness of it all.
Author: Geoff Andrew
Time Out London Issue 1924: July 4-10 2007
User reviews of this film
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- David Wright said...
- Posted on Jul 05 2007 18:30 Superb. Takes you inside the dark heart of an American salary man, I'll admit that Glengarry Glenross is one of my favourite films. If you liked that one, you love this.
- Report as inappropriate
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- Yvan Duric said...
- Posted on Jul 05 2007 06:02 I will be even harder than the TimeOut rewiever, and say that this so-called 'film' piles rubbish upon rubbish, and what ultimately sinks it is that there is an obvious attempt to make the viewer sympathise with the disgusting character of Edmond played by William H. Macy, a fact that could destroy any consideration for him as an actor; at least this is what happened to me: I cannot bear him since.
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Cast & crew
Director: Stuart Gordon
Producer: Chris Hanley, Molly Hassell, Duffy Hecht, Stuart Gordon, Roger Kass, Mary McCann, Kevin Ragsdale
Cast: William H Macy, Joe Mantegna, Mena Suvari, Denise Richards, Bokeem Woodbine, Julia Stiles, Rebecca Pidgeon, Bai Ling, Lionel Mark Smith, George Wendt full cast
Rated: 18
Duration: 82 mins
UK Release: Jul 6 2007
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