Released: July 14th, 2006
Starring: William H. Macy, Julia Stiles, Joe Mantegna, Mena Suvari
Writer/Director: David Mamet/Stuart Gordon
[Review may contain spoilers. Please watch movie before reading, unless you don't care. Most of these films have already been released for a while, so they should be readily available.]
***
Some movies attempt to be controversial by having lots of swearing, lots of sex or lots of ultra-violence. This is all in an attempt to make the audience uncomfortable with the subject matter on the screen. It's supposed to show racism, murder or sexuality in a way that people don't expect in film. But with society becoming so desensitized to violence, nudity and slurs/"bad" words, writers and directors are finding it tougher to shock the public. The closest movie to do this in recent years was "The Human Centipede".
"Edmond" tries it's best to be a shock driven movie. Right from the first encounter with a man in a bar played by Joe Mantegna, where he freely says "nigger" without hesitation, and then constantly uses it throughout the rest of the conversation, the writer is trying to say, 'hey, look i used this taboo racial slur. Ain't I edgy?' And the movie proceeds from there, as Edmond (Macy) goes through every self destructive avenue a city can offer: prostitution, gambling, pawning and casual sex.
As Edmond, who Macy embodies perfectly, slowly descends madness, the events that take place become more and more outlandish. His entire conversation with Julia Stiles, whether it be at the restaurant or in her room after sex, is ridiculous. I can't believe the writer thinks we are dumb enough to accept that she would sleep with him after his insane monologue. She eventually catches on that he's a bit crazy, but it's too late as he murder her in a "gruesome" scene that made me laughed out loud.
The arc of "Edmond" is to show his transition from a dweeb to a zealot. He begins his night looking for sex, but it ends with him releasing his built up sexual desire in a violent explosion. Macy shows this transformation in a very organic way, but I saw no real spark that made him snap. Maybe that was the point, but it felt like it was missing a scene.
Macy does what he does, which is to give a grade-A performance despite every thing around him being crap. If you need a completely worn-down man who is chronically depressed, there is no one better than Macy. He has the ability mix self-deprecating humor with dramatic moments, and never really turns in a bad performance. I can't say the same thing about the other actor in the film. It really seemed like everyone took their checks and gave C-grade performances, even Stiles, who's usually pretty solid, looked over-matched when trying to be a homophobic waitress.
"Edmond" tries to follow in the footsteps of "Crash" in theaters, but there was something lacking in the execution of the film. I found myself laughing more than being uncomfortable. Maybe I'm more cynical or desensitized than others, but I don't think that was the case because I really feel they were caught between being a parody and controversial.
Rating: 5.5/10 -- Great performance by Macy, and good for some cheap, unintended laughs. There seems to be a great story of the downfall of a man, but the situations get out-of-hand so quickly that it's not believable.
No comments:
Post a Comment