EDMOND (2005)

Directed by Stuart Gordon. Starring William H. Macy, Julia Stiles, Joe Mantegna, Ling Bai, Denise Richards, Debie Mazur, George Wendt, Lionel Mark Smith, Bokeem Woodbine. Drama. A man who has long marched to his own beat decides to step out of his life on a whim and the experiences he has in that one night bring him in contact with people and circumstances that forever change his life.

Edmond is based on a play that was written by David Mamet and has, apparently, been performed on stage many times in the two decades since it was first penned, but this is the initial foray onto the big screen. While I had not ever seen the play or, frankly, even heard of it, I feel comfortable enough to say that the film does it justice. Edmond is a good movie and I think we can all conclude that the play must have been good as well since it is evidently being performed regularly for twenty years...not to mention that David Mamet has been known to write some good stuff.

First of, if you are thinking of renting/purchasing this one, understand that this is not the ensemble cast that you might think it is when reading the box cover or reading about it online. Yes, there are several fabulos actors in this one, as well as some well known celebs. But, this film is Macy's baby all of the way. Not to put down the wonderful performances by some of the other cast, but they are really glorified cameo scenes, as only Stiles and Woodbine of the main supporting cast has more than one scene. Macy, on the other hand, is in literally every scene.

I don't write this to alarm you because Macy more than delivers...but then he always does in my opinon. Really, no matter how big or small his role (Civil Action, Air Force One, Thank you for Smoking, Cellular, The Murder of Mary Phagan, etc. etc.) , have you ever seen Macy when he is not good? Nope, me either.

Anyway, Edmond (Macy of course) is an enigmatic, seemingly successful business man who is tired and disappointed with his lot in life, as well as life in general. We know this from the opening frames, though precious little, if any, time is spent explaining why this is so for Edmond. It almost makes it seem as though Edmond's life is beginning now and we'll see where it takes him. Well, to get the ball rolling, Edmond matter of factly tells his understandbly incredulous wife that he's outta' there...and hasn't wanted to be there for a while. This goes over about as well as you think it would, nut Edmond doesn't seem to care. Soon, he is off into the New York City night, where he will meet several strangers, the first of which is Jo Mategna, a gruff and somewhat insesitive businessman type who is looking for a short term drinking and bit***** buddy, and Edmond fills the bill.

It might be the coarse advice of (the brilliant) Mategna's character that really gives Edmond the encouragement to now, right now, start making the most of his life. His adventures include a negotiation with a hostess in a stip club (Denise Richards), another one sided attempt at an on the level transaction with a stripper (Ling Bai) performing behind the glass in one of the seedy Times Square peep shows; being sold on the need for a big knife from a persuasive pawn shop owner (an almost unrecognizable George Wendt); a tussle with a talkative pimp who was friendly starting out (Lionel Mark Smith) and the most fateful meeting of the night, a flirtation and conquest of a young cocktail waitress named Glenna (Julia Stiles).

Now, its hard to even give a quick review of the two scenes with Mact and Stiles without playing spoiler, but I have to say that what probably jumps out at those of you who know these actors but have not seen the film is the May/December aspect of the relationship, which is definitely an aspect of it, but to me, Stiles' character is the only one who might be as messed up in the head-though for different reasons-than Edmond, which is the primary reason that this one night stand, as they say, ends very badly.

I can't even comment on Bokeem Woodbine's character's association with Edmond without totally spoiling the whole thing, but lets just say that those of you familiar with Woodbine (The Rock, The Sopranos, Freeway) have not seen him like this before.

Edmond is a short film, and its one of those that you can really take from it whatever you want. At turns tragic and, frankly, funny, I think it will probably leave most people ambivalent about how they feel about it. To me, Edmond, as messed up as he is, is doing something to an extreme that all of us might do from time to time...trying to make sense of it all. He fails, of course, but his real problem is in not understanding that he can't make sense of it all (life). At least that is what I got oout of it...in addition to being entertained for a little over an hour. Fans of Stiles, Richards, Wendt, and Woodbine will be pleased in this one, fans of Macy, Mantegna, and offbeat NYC based drama just can't miss it.