Published at: July 26, 2006, 7:50 p.m. CST by staff
Hey, everyone. Capone in Chicago here, with big news for those in Chicago
about a film you have probably never heard of before. Starting this Friday,
July 28, the new Stuart Gordon-directed film EDMOND, starring William H.
Macy and written by David Mamet (based on his play) opens for a limited
two-week run at the Gene Siskel Film Center (
http://www.artic.edu/webspaces/siskelfilmcenter/). Macy will be at a couple
of the Friday and Saturday screenings this weekend for Q&As, and tickets are
disappearing fast. So why should you care about this film? Read on, kiddies.
All you'd have to do is tell me that David Mamet wrote it and William H.
Macy stars, and I'd be there. But when you add that Stuart Gordon is the
director of this urban nightmare about a mild-mannered businessman who, in
one night, leaves his wife and tours the underbelly of an unnamed city (it
could be L.A. but it feels like New York), then you've got an unstoppable
threesome of men with deep Chicago theater roots, not to mention a healthy
list of film credits to their names. Mamet and Macy co-created the St.
Nicholas Theater here in the Windy City back in 1972, while Gordon began as
artistic director of the Chicago's Organic Theater Company in 1970. In 1974,
Organic even put on Mamet's play Sexual Perversity in Chicago (the film
version of which is About Last Night…), while St. Nicholas premiered many
Mamet classics like American Buffalo and The Water Engine, with Macy
originating several now-iconic roles.
As a film director, Gordon went on to become something of a horror movie
icon, while Macy never seemed far from Mamet's side whenever the
writer-director had a new project, including works like House of Games,
Things Change, Homicide, The Water Engine, Oleanna, Wag the Dog, State and
Main, and Spartan. So why is this new film, Edmond, such a mystery to so
many people? Because it's dangerous on a couple levels, and terrifying on
all levels. Based on two-decades-old Mamet play, Edmond is the type of Mamet
work that most moviegoers have never seen. (If you're more familiar with his
theater work, you may not be quite as shocked.) It is not a pleasant film to
watch, but it grips you around the throat and makes it impossible for you to
look away, and it may be the finest work Macy has ever given us.
William H. Macy has played so many different roles on stage, T.V., and in
films that he's probably not in any danger of damaging his career for taking
a role like this. But if it were going to happen, it would be for playing
Edmond. We never get a sense of what has led to Edmond's break down, so
we're never quite sure what this guy is capable of. That makes him more
dangerous. After arriving home from work one night, Edmond announces to his
wife (Rebecca Pigeon) that he's walking out and never coming back.
Immediately, the Mamet-speak is in our face.
Starting-stopping-interrupting-thoughts broken-speech overlapping-sentences
finished by someone else. It's all here, and the rhythm is utterly
recognizable. Some people love it (including me); others, it drives
absolutely fucking nuts. Edmond is out the door and on to the first of many
stops on his long days journey into his own heart of darkness.
I don't think Edmond leaves home knowing exactly what he's looking for, but
when a fellow bar patron (one-time Organic Theater player Joe Mantegna)
suggests that getting laid might be a good idea, Edmond agrees. For the rest
of the night, the desperate Edmond bounces from strip club to peep show to
massage parlor, finding the women and the drinks too expensive for his
tastes or budget. Although, considering the women he approaches in these
places are Denise Richards, Bai Ling, and Meni Suvari, maybe a few extra
bucks wouldn't have killed him. He lands up in a pawn shop ready to sell his
ring for some extra cash after he's robbed, when he spots and purchases a
very scary looking ornate knife. This is about the place where your heart
should start beating a little harder.
While defending himself with his newly acquired weapon against another
mugging at the hands of a shady pimp, Edmond unleashes a horrifying string
of racial slurs that offer up our first glance at what's really going on
inside his damaged brain. We are never given a clear reason whether race has
ever been an issue in his life up to this point, but there's no doubt that
our natural inclination to like Edmond, or at least pity him, goes right out
the window. Sure the acting is terrific but Macy does something more than
act: he manipulates our desire to always like his characters (even the most
pathetic), thus he manipulates our feelings about Edmund. And for the first
time in the film, and perhaps his life, Edmond suddenly walks the earth like
he has a purpose.
Shortly after the foiled attack, Edmond lands in a restaurant, coming on
very strong to a young waitress named Glenna (Julia Stiles, playing one of
the few characters in the film with a name). Before long the two are in bed
together, and Edmond is on a rampage of adrenaline, pent up sexual
aggression, and bloodlust. Glenna seems turned on by tales of Edmond's
encounter with the pimp, and even joins in on his hate speech express, but
it doesn't take long for Edmond to scare her and then try to…calm her down.
From this point on, we track Edmond's absolute downfall, as his every action
seems motivated by either rage or desperation to be understood. This is as
close to playing a maniac as you're likely to see Macy attempt, so take
advantage of the opportunity. His transformation is so utterly convincing
and complete that you actually wonder how an actor can recover from such an
experience.
Stuart Gordon's direction is as solid as I've seen it in years. He uses many
familiar horror-film angles and lighting choices to convey Edmond's
not-so-gradual disintegration, and considering the hellish quality of the
story, it hardly seems out of place. The movement in this film never stops;
with a running time of about 82 minutes, how could it? The name of the game
with Edmond is emotion--raw and unfiltered. This is not only the most mature
horror film Gordon's ever made, but it's one of the finest character
meltdown pieces I've ever seen, and this is entirely thanks to Macy's
death-defying performance. Even in his worst films, the guy never lets us
down, and this film is about as good as it gets.
