Edmond (2005)

A fortune-tellers teasing rumination sends Edmond Burke lurching into New York City's hellish underworld.

Director:

Stuart Gordon

Writers:

David Mamet (screenplay), David Mamet (play)

Stars:

William H. Macy, Julia Stiles, Joe Mantegna

3 wins & 2 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
William H. Macy	...	Edmond
Frances Bay	...	Fortune Teller
Rebecca Pidgeon	...	Wife
Joe Mantegna	...	Man in Bar
Denise Richards	...	B-Girl
Wendy Thompson	...	Cocktail Waitress
Vincent Guastaferro	...	Club Manager
Bai Ling	...	Peep Show Girl
Matt Landers	...	Bystander
Dulé Hill	...	Sharper
Russell Hornsby	...	Shill
Aldis Hodge	...	Leafletter
Debi Mazar	...	Matron
Mena Suvari	...	Whore
Jeffrey Combs	...	Desk Clerk

Storyline

A man in a suit at a Manhattan firm leaves work on Friday; he looks unhappy. He stops at a fortune teller's for a Tarot reading: "You are not where you belong," she tells him. That evening he quits his marriage and walks the streets of New York, passing from a classy bar to a gentleman's club, then to a high-class bordello, a mugging, a pawnshop, and a diner where someone does listen. He shares his insights with her and later with others. Violence, disappointment, and musings entwine as Edmond loses his moorings while believing he's found them. Where does he belong?

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Plot Keywords:

bipolar disorder | prostitute | oral sex | violence | marriage | 

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Taglines:

A heart-pounding thriller!

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Genres:

Drama | Thriller

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for violence, strong language, and sexual content including nudity and dialogue

Details

Official Sites:

Official site

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

24 November 2006 (Italy)

Also Known As:

Submundo

Filming Locations:

Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$10,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$19,253, 16 July 2006, Limited Release

Gross USA:

$131,617, 15 October 2006

Company Credits

Production Co:

120dB Films, Catfish Productions, Code Entertainment

Technical Specs

Runtime:

82 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

When Edmond enters the peep show and Bai Ling greets him, she tells him to go into room number six three times: 666.

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Goofs

The shots of the basketball game in the bar keep showing the same segment even after many minutes pass during the conversation. You see the same scramble for the ball and the same drive to the basket at least twice.

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Quotes

Man in Bar: [while watching a basketball game at a bar] I'll tell you who's got it easy.
Edmond: Who?
Man in Bar: [Gestures to basketball game on TV] The niggers. Sometimes I wish I was a nigger.
Edmond: Sometimes I wish I was too.
Man in Bar: I'd rob a store. I don't blame 'em, I swear to God. Because I want to tell ya, we're bred to do the things that we do.
Edmond: Yes.
Man in Bar: Northern race, one thing, southern race... something else.
[Gestures to basketball game on TV again and starts to light up a cigarette]
Man in Bar: And what they want to do is sit under the tree and...

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Connections

References Men in Black (1997)

User Reviews

No, that's too much…Edmond

We have here a night of debauchery, violence, anger, and hate which could only be delivered by David Mamet's lyrical prose and the horror background of director Stuart Gordon. Think Scorsese's After Hours, but dead serious and shrouded in pitch black darkness. Much like Mamet's Oleanna, also based on his own play, Edmond features a tour de force performance from lead actor and real life friend William H. Macy. His character awakens to the mundane existence he has been a part of for 47 years and decides to go on an adventure to live life in the moment. You have not seen a crisis of identity lead a man to the depths of the hell within himself like you do here.

Gordon shoots the film with a bit of an off-kilter unease, showing the audience how fragile each moment is. At any time Macy's Edmond could fall in lust, partake in bigoted conversation, get mugged, find God, and even kill. Macy delivers an emotional clinic as he falls deeper and deeper into insanity or maybe just plain indifference. He is the star of the show and is on screen every second of the film just trying to give wisdom and take some for himself, not realizing the crazed malice infused in his face as he spouts his philosophy. The film is definitely not for the weak of heart, and not because of any real overdoing of blood and nudity, but because of the script itself. Each character is a racist and bigot of some sort, exposing their prejudices with candor. Edmond is on a journey of acceptance for who he really is. Where that trail ends may be surprising and also fitting at the same time, but if nothing else, it is the place he has been searching for his entire life.

This is definitely Macy, Mamet, and Gordon's film, but it wouldn't be as successful as it is without an abundance of name actors in extremely small roles helping to keep the adventure going. Mamet's wife Rebecca Pidgeon is great as always playing the wife Macy leaves; Mena Suvari and Julia Stiles are believable as two of the women he crosses paths with, both of whom are introduced as one thing but eventually allow their true colors to come through; and Joe Mantegna once again shows that he became an actor only to show the world how Mamet's words should be spoken. No one does it like Mantegna and no film penned by Mamet should be without him.

Edmond is a strangely intriguing film to experience. It is dialogue heavy and contains a strong lead turn from Macy. Everything that transpires does so as a result of what he has experienced beforehand. Macy would not end up where he does if all that happened this night of self-reflection did not occur in exactly the order that it does. Straight from the note his secretary gives him at the beginning, to the tarot reading soon after, the planets aligned and fate led him to his salvation/destruction. There are moments in which the story grinds to a bit of halt and takes a little to get back on track, but overall the experience is one not to be shaken easily from your consciousness.