MOVIE REVIEWS
Edmund
Chris Evangelista
David Mamet is one hell of a good writer, as his many well known plays and screenplays will attest. But his play Edmund, which premiered Off-Broadway in 1982, is one of his lesser known works. It isn’t peppered with the usual sharp and rhythmic “Mamet-Speak” of his later plays, but it still has that Mamet feel to it.
Stuart Gordon, director of such cult classics as Re-Animator and Castle Freak, has brought Mamet’s play to the screen with his film, Edmund. Edmund tells a story similar to Joel Schumacher’s Falling Down: an ordinary man who snaps and just won’t take it anymore. But unlike Schumacher’s film, which seemed to glorify it’s protagonist, Edmund presents an “As-Is” look at the very extraordinary day of an ordinary man.
William H. Macy does a fantastic job as Edmund Burke, a man who is told by a fortune teller he is “not where he belongs.” That very night, he leaves his wife and heads out on the town to attempt to reclaim his manhood. He does this by visiting various high price Gentlemen’s Clubs, but finds himself swindled by call-girls at almost every turn. It isn’t long before he’s reached the end of his rope and decided to lash back at the world. He is attracted to a waitress (Julia Styles), and ends up in her apartment for sex…and something less pleasing.
Edmund will not be an easy film for some. It’s main character is racist, violent, and misogynistic, but Macy plays him so well that you will find yourself liking and almost understanding this character. Mamet’s screenplay is sharp, and this is probably Gordon’s best work as a director to date. Who knew that the man who once made a film in which a severed head attempted to perform oral sex on an unconscious woman would go on to direct such a stark and realistic film?
If you have the stomach for something unpleasant but intelligent, Edmund is a film you should really check out. It didn’t get that much of a theatrical release, but it’s available on DVD this week for all to see. Highly recommended.
