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Edmond (film)
Encyclopedia
Edmond is a 2005 drama
-thriller film
starring William H. Macy
, based on the play of the same name
. It was written (play
and screenplay
) by David Mamet
and directed by Stuart Gordon
.
Julia Stiles
, Rebecca Pidgeon
, Denise Richards
, Mena Suvari
, Joe Mantegna
and George Wendt
were among those with supporting roles in the film. It was screened at several film festival
s from September 2005 to May 2006, and had a limited release on July 14, 2006.
on the way home. She claims Edmond "is not where [he] belongs." He decides to make changes in his life, beginning by leaving his wife.
At a bar, Edmond tells a fellow patron he hasn't 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 doesn't realize that he isn't allowed to have actual sex with the performer.
Next he goes to a white-collar
bordello, but can't afford a hooker. Edmond needs money, so he plays a card game with a street dealer. When Edmond accuses the dealer of cheating, the dealer beats him up and steals 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 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 stabs her to death, blaming her own insecurity for her murder.
On a subway train, Edmond has an angry confrontation with a female passenger. Edmond wanders the city. He 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 he threatened on the subway who is about to walk into the church, recognizes Edmond and calls into the street for the police. The responding officer, while detaining Edmond outside the church doorway, 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 Edmonds pocket may be the murder weapon related to Glenna's murder. The interrogating officer blatently asks Edmond why he killed Glenna, to Edmond's shock and disbelief. He is sent to prison
for her murder.
Edmond is paired with an African-American 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 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. He ponders the afterlife
, 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.
reported that 45% of critics gave the film positive reviews, based on 69 reviews. Metacritic
reported the film had an average score of 61 out of 100, meaning Generally favorable reviews, based on 21 reviews.
Peter Bradshaw of The Guardian
gave the film one star out of five and called it a "truly awful movie, one of the very worst US pictures to be released [in the UK] in years." Bradshaw said screenwriter Mamet "lets rip with deafening flatulent macho nonsense" and said "He reaches a level of self-parody so extreme his trademark dialogue becomes almost literally meaningless." Bradshaw said the cameos by Mena Suvari and Denise Richards are "insulting and cursorily written" and called the ending of the film "outrageously contrived."
The New York Times
film critic Stephen Holden said William H. Macy "is perfectly cast", calling him "a master at playing sticks of human dynamite in mild-mannered camouflage" and that he gives the "nerviest screen performance of his career." Holden said the film is a faithful adaptation of the one-act play from 1982, saying "Its taunting insistence that everyone is racist
, voiced in abrasive, staccato Mamet-speak, leaves you feeling battered and vaguely guilty." Holden wrote, "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." Holden said viewers may love or hate the film but that it was certainly unforgettable.
Drama film
A drama film is a film genre that depends mostly on in-depth development of realistic characters dealing with emotional themes. Dramatic themes such as alcoholism, drug addiction, infidelity, moral dilemmas, racial prejudice, religious intolerance, poverty, class divisions, violence against women...
-thriller film
Film
A film, also called a movie or motion picture, is a series of still or moving images. It is produced by recording photographic images with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects...
starring William H. Macy
William H. Macy
William Hall Macy, Jr. is an American actor and writer. He was nominated for an Academy Award for his role as Jerry Lundegaard in Fargo. He is also a teacher and director in theater, film and television. His film career has been built mostly on his appearances in small, independent films, though...
, based on the play of the same name
Edmond (play)
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...
. It was written (play
Play (theatre)
A play is a form of literature written by a playwright, usually consisting of scripted dialogue between characters, intended for theatrical performance rather than just reading. There are rare dramatists, notably George Bernard Shaw, who have had little preference whether their plays were performed...
and screenplay
Screenplay
A screenplay or script is a written work that is made especially for a film or television program. Screenplays can be original works or adaptations from existing pieces of writing. In them, the movement, actions, expression, and dialogues of the characters are also narrated...
) by David Mamet
David Mamet
David Alan Mamet is an American playwright, essayist, screenwriter and film director.Best known as a playwright, Mamet won a Pulitzer Prize and received a Tony nomination for Glengarry Glen Ross . He also received a Tony nomination for Speed-the-Plow . As a screenwriter, he received Oscar...
and directed by Stuart Gordon
Stuart Gordon
After the University of Wisconsin demanded future theatrical productions by Screw Theater be overseen by a University Professor, Gordon cut his University ties to form Broom Street Theater. Its first production, the new translation of the risque Lysistrata, premiered in May 1969. Gordon is...
.
Julia Stiles
Julia Stiles
Julia O'Hara Stiles is an American actress.After beginning her career in small parts in a New York City theatre troupe, she has moved on to leading roles in plays by writers as diverse as William Shakespeare and David Mamet...
, Rebecca Pidgeon
Rebecca Pidgeon
Rebecca Pidgeon is a British actress and singer-songwriter. She has maintained a recording career while also acting on stage and in feature films. She is married to the American writer and director David Mamet.-Early life:...
, Denise Richards
Denise Richards
Denise Lee Richards is an American actress and former fashion model of Croatian and Welsh descent. She has appeared in films including Starship Troopers, Wild Things, and The World Is Not Enough...
, Mena Suvari
Mena Suvari
Mena Alexandra Suvari is an American actress, fashion designer, and model. Shortly after beginning her career as a model, she appeared in guest roles on 1990's television shows such as Boy Meets World and High Incident...
, Joe Mantegna
Joe Mantegna
Joseph Anthony "Joe" Mantegna, Jr. is an American actor, producer, writer,director, and voice actor. He is best known for his roles in box office hits such as Three Amigos , The Godfather Part III , Forget Paris , and Up Close & Personal...
and George Wendt
George Wendt
George Robert Wendt III is an American actor, best known for the roles of Norm Peterson and Tug Clarke on the television shows Cheers and Modern Men.-Early life:...
were among those with supporting roles in the film. It was screened at several film festival
Film festival
A film festival is an organised, extended presentation of films in one or more movie theaters or screening venues, usually in a single locality. More and more often film festivals show part of their films to the public by adding outdoor movie screenings...
s from September 2005 to May 2006, and had a limited release on July 14, 2006.
Plot
Edmond Burke is a city businessman who visits a Tarot fortune tellerTarot
The tarot |trionfi]] and later as tarocchi, tarock, and others) is a pack of cards , used from the mid-15th century in various parts of Europe to play a group of card games such as Italian tarocchini and French tarot...
on the way home. She claims Edmond "is not where [he] belongs." He decides to make changes in his life, beginning by leaving his wife.
At a bar, Edmond tells a fellow patron he hasn't 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
Peep show
A peep show or peepshow is an exhibition of pictures, objects or people viewed through a small hole or magnifying glass. Though historically a peep show was a form of entertainment provided by wandering showmen, nowadays it more commonly refers a presentation of a sex show or pornographic film...
; having never been to such a place before, he doesn't realize that he isn't allowed to have actual sex with the performer.
Next he goes to a white-collar
White-collar worker
The term white-collar worker refers to a person who performs professional, managerial, or administrative work, in contrast with a blue-collar worker, whose job requires manual labor...
bordello, but can't afford a hooker. Edmond needs money, so he plays a card game with a street dealer. When Edmond accuses the dealer of cheating, the dealer beats him up and steals his money.
Edmond becomes enraged by what he sees as the contempt, prejudice and greed of society. He pawns his wedding ring
Wedding ring
A wedding ring or wedding band is a metal ring indicating the wearer is married. Depending on the local culture, it is worn on the base of the right or the left ring finger. The custom of wearing such a ring has spread widely beyond its origin in Europe...
in exchange for a knife. He is approached by a pimp
Pimp
A pimp is an agent for prostitutes who collects part of their earnings. The pimp may receive this money in return for advertising services, physical protection, or for providing a location where she may engage clients...
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 waitress, Glenna, his newfound worldview of instant gratification
Gratification
Gratification is the pleasurable emotional reaction of happiness in response to a fulfillment of a desire or goal.Gratification, like all emotions, is a motivator of behavior and thus plays a role in the entire range of human social systems....
. 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 stabs her to death, blaming her own insecurity for her murder.
On a subway train, Edmond has an angry confrontation with a female passenger. Edmond wanders the city. He 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 he threatened on the subway who is about to walk into the church, recognizes Edmond and calls into the street for the police. The responding officer, while detaining Edmond outside the church doorway, 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 Edmonds pocket may be the murder weapon related to Glenna's murder. The interrogating officer blatently asks Edmond why he killed Glenna, to Edmond's shock and disbelief. He is sent to prison
Prison
A prison is a place in which people are physically confined and, usually, deprived of a range of personal freedoms. Imprisonment or incarceration is a legal penalty that may be imposed by the state for the commission of a crime...
for her murder.
Edmond is paired with an African-American 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
Oral sex
Oral sex is sexual activity involving the stimulation of the genitalia of a sex partner by the use of the mouth, tongue, teeth or throat. Cunnilingus refers to oral sex performed on females while fellatio refer to oral sex performed on males. Anilingus refers to oral stimulation of a person's anus...
on him.
Edmond tells a prison minister what happened, but goes off on a tangent
Tangent
In geometry, the tangent line to a plane curve at a given point is the straight line that "just touches" the curve at that point. More precisely, a straight line is said to be a tangent of a curve at a point on the curve if the line passes through the point on the curve and has slope where f...
, 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 about the human ego
EGO
See also Egoism Ego is a Latin word meaning "I", cognate with the Greek "Εγώ " meaning "I", often used in English to mean the "self", "identity" or other related concepts.It may also refer to:...
and how life should not be taken for granted. He concludes that by conquering his fears, he might lead a better life. He ponders the afterlife
Afterlife
The afterlife is the belief that a part of, or essence of, or soul of an individual, which carries with it and confers personal identity, survives the death of the body of this world and this lifetime, by natural or supernatural means, in contrast to the belief in eternal...
, 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
- William H. MacyWilliam H. MacyWilliam Hall Macy, Jr. is an American actor and writer. He was nominated for an Academy Award for his role as Jerry Lundegaard in Fargo. He is also a teacher and director in theater, film and television. His film career has been built mostly on his appearances in small, independent films, though...
as Edmond Burke - Frances BayFrances BayFrances Bay was a U.S.-based Canadian character actress, best known for playing quirky, elderly women on film and television...
as Fortune Teller - Rebecca PidgeonRebecca PidgeonRebecca Pidgeon is a British actress and singer-songwriter. She has maintained a recording career while also acting on stage and in feature films. She is married to the American writer and director David Mamet.-Early life:...
as Wife - Joe MantegnaJoe MantegnaJoseph Anthony "Joe" Mantegna, Jr. is an American actor, producer, writer,director, and voice actor. He is best known for his roles in box office hits such as Three Amigos , The Godfather Part III , Forget Paris , and Up Close & Personal...
as Man in Bar - Denise RichardsDenise RichardsDenise Lee Richards is an American actress and former fashion model of Croatian and Welsh descent. She has appeared in films including Starship Troopers, Wild Things, and The World Is Not Enough...
as B-girl - Bai LingBai LingBai Ling is a Chinese actress known for her work in films such as The Crow, Red Corner and Wild Wild West, and in TV series such as Entourage and Lost. In 2011 she appeared in the fifth season of the VH1 reality television series Celebrity Rehab with Dr...
as Peep Show Girl - Dulé HillDulé HillKarim Dulé Hill is an American actor and tap dancer. He is best known for his roles as personal presidential aide Charlie Young on the NBC drama television series The West Wing, and as pharmaceutical salesman-private detective Burton "Gus" Guster on the USA Network television comedy-drama Psych...
as Sharper - Debi MazarDebi MazarDeborah "Debi" Mazar is an American actress, perhaps best known for her Jersey Girl-type roles; as sharp-tongued women in independent films; and for her recurring role as press agent Shauna Roberts on the HBO series Entourage.-Early life:...
as Matron - Mena SuvariMena SuvariMena Alexandra Suvari is an American actress, fashion designer, and model. Shortly after beginning her career as a model, she appeared in guest roles on 1990's television shows such as Boy Meets World and High Incident...
as Whore - George WendtGeorge WendtGeorge Robert Wendt III is an American actor, best known for the roles of Norm Peterson and Tug Clarke on the television shows Cheers and Modern Men.-Early life:...
as Pawn Shop Owner - Lionel Mark SmithLionel Mark SmithLionel Mark Smith was an American actor.He appeared in several movies including Homicide, Edmond, State and Main and Spartan. He also appeared on such television series as Seinfeld, NYPD Blue, Beverly Hills, 90210 and Hill Street Blues.His last appearance was in the 2007 horror film Stuck...
as Pimp - Julia StilesJulia StilesJulia O'Hara Stiles is an American actress.After beginning her career in small parts in a New York City theatre troupe, she has moved on to leading roles in plays by writers as diverse as William Shakespeare and David Mamet...
as Glenna - Dylan WalshDylan WalshDylan Walsh is an American actor. He is best known as Dr. Sean McNamara in the FX television series Nip/Tuck.-Early life:...
as Interrogator - Bokeem WoodbineBokeem WoodbineBokeem Woodbine is an American film and television actor.-Personal life:Woodbine was born in Harlem, New York to an actress mother. He attended the prestigious Dalton School in New York before transferring to the also prestigious LaGuardia High School of Music & Art and Performing Arts in the city...
as Prisoner - Wren T. BrownWren T. BrownWren Troy Brown is an American film, theater, and television actor.A fourth generation Angeleno, Mr. Brown is also a fourth generation theatrical. He is in his third decade as an actor, producer, and director.-Biography:...
as Preacher
Critical reception
The film received mixed to favorable reviews from critics. The review aggregator Rotten TomatoesRotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is a website devoted to reviews, information, and news of films—widely known as a film review aggregator. Its name derives from the cliché of audiences throwing tomatoes and other vegetables at a poor stage performance...
reported that 45% of critics gave the film positive reviews, based on 69 reviews. Metacritic
Metacritic
Metacritic.com is a website that collates reviews of music albums, games, movies, TV shows and DVDs. For each product, a numerical score from each review is obtained and the total is averaged. An excerpt of each review is provided along with a hyperlink to the source. Three colour codes of Green,...
reported the film had an average score of 61 out of 100, meaning Generally favorable reviews, based on 21 reviews.
Peter Bradshaw of The Guardian
The Guardian
The Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...
gave the film one star out of five and called it a "truly awful movie, one of the very worst US pictures to be released [in the UK] in years." Bradshaw said screenwriter Mamet "lets rip with deafening flatulent macho nonsense" and said "He reaches a level of self-parody so extreme his trademark dialogue becomes almost literally meaningless." Bradshaw said the cameos by Mena Suvari and Denise Richards are "insulting and cursorily written" and called the ending of the film "outrageously contrived."
The New York Times
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
film critic Stephen Holden said William H. Macy "is perfectly cast", calling him "a master at playing sticks of human dynamite in mild-mannered camouflage" and that he gives the "nerviest screen performance of his career." Holden said the film is a faithful adaptation of the one-act play from 1982, saying "Its taunting insistence that everyone is racist
Racism
Racism is the belief that inherent different traits in human racial groups justify discrimination. In the modern English language, the term "racism" is used predominantly as a pejorative epithet. It is applied especially to the practice or advocacy of racial discrimination of a pernicious nature...
, voiced in abrasive, staccato Mamet-speak, leaves you feeling battered and vaguely guilty." Holden wrote, "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." Holden said viewers may love or hate the film but that it was certainly unforgettable.
Wins and nominations
| Year | Group | Award | Won | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2005 | Grand Jury Prize Deauville American Film Festival The Deauville American Film Festival is a yearly film festival devoted to American cinema, taking place since 1975 in Deauville, France. It was established by Lionel Chouchan and André Halimi.... |
Stuart Gordon | No | |
| Newport International Film Festival Achievement Award | Acting | Yes | ||
| 2006 | Mar del Plata Film Festival, Best Actor | William H. Macy | Yes |