Edmond

I once again have the amazing technological capability of watching feature films in my own home. I took advantage of this wonder of modern science to watch Edmond.

It's adapted by David Mamet from his own stage play. Stuart Gordon directed. Willam H. Macy stars.

Mamet projects tend to attract a great cast. This is the kinda movie where you're watching it thinking, "Man, the woman playing the stripper with just a few lines in one scene sure looks a lot like Denise Richards." And... yes, the credits roll, and it was Denise Richards. And Bai Ling. And Julia Stiles. And George Wendt! My point is, big names in small parts. State & Main is kinda like that, too.

Edmond is similar to Falling Down, a movie I consider to be Joel Schumacher's finest hour. (Or two hours, if you wanna get technical). We have a middle-aged guy with an old school set of values who wakes up one day and thinks: "That's it, I'm done," and goes on a journey of both self-discovery and self-destruction.

Edmond is pitch black. It's a fuckin' bleak movie. Falling Down isn't exactly a frothy romcom, either. But where Edmond ends up... hoo boy.

I could tell it was based on a play. Macy would walk around and go places, but the character always ends up in these static settings where he gives big Mamet speeches. It's a great character. There are times, especially in act two, where he seems just on the cusp of some real enlightenment, of thinking and saying something really interesting and powerful. But (I feel) the very final scene shows he's just full of shit. Or maybe not.

The story takes place in a kinda nameless Anycity, USA. In act one, we get a sequence where Macy's uptight, upper-middle-class, sheltered sububan suit 'n' tie guy goes downtown to the streets to take in the night life. We get a slow truck across all these sleazy neon signs, like when George Bailey first arrives in downtown Potterville.

This is a standard element you'll find in a movie like this. But I laughed out loud when I realized, two seconds in, that Gordon shot all of this stuff in Hollywood. Most of the "sleazy mean street" neon signs are a block away from my front door. It was like: "Okay, here's the Taxi Driver-style montage where we establish how rough the city is... hey! It's the Seventh Veil! And Crazy Girls! And that one bar!"

I didn't like this one quite as much as King of the Ants, which just fucking blew me away. But you could do a hell of a lot worse on an indie movie with this much talent lined up behind it.

And I've been playing Halo 3. I know, I know... I'm right there on the cutting edge. It's okay. I'm still working through the single-player game.