Edmond

Edmond ***1/2

I saw two other films on the same day that I saw "Edmond," and throughout both of them, and for hours after them, this film was still on my mind. It's so unique, so strange, so disturbing and haunting that it's hard to get out of your head. William H. Macy gives an award worthy preformance that should be remembered that the Oscars next year, but it won't. It probably will even be forgotten in a few weeks by everyone, but it just isn't right.

He stars as Edmond Burke, who is stuck in a humdrum existence. He goes to work everyday, in the same type of suit, with his briefcase, walking down the same hall. The only thrill that he gets in life is when he presses the elevator button, and inside finds two workers making out inside. On the way home from work one day, he passes a fortune teller's booth, and something makes him walk inside. Inside, the teller gives him a tarot card reading, which ends with "You are not where you belong." After that, Edmond goes home, and tells his wife that she doesn't interest him anymore, spirtually or sexually. This is said while she stands in front of him with a black bra on, done for obvious effect on the viewer. So, he leaves her, and ends up meeting a man in a bar, who gives him a speech about the difference between the white and black race, and how the white men have it hard because they are expected to deal with the pressures of responsiblity. We are foreced into this humdrum existence, but the black race is able to just go as far away from these concepts as possible. The man then tells Edmond that he needs to get laid, and his problems will be solved, so he gives him a card to a strip club. Edmond is then sent into a hellish, nightmare world, a dark and creepy look at city life after dark. Edmond goes to this club, and then learns that sex is expensive. He is not prepared to have to give more than two hundred dollars for a lay, and it ends up with him getting conned, robbed, brused, beaten, and then leading to the moment where he kills a pimp that holds a knife to his neck and demands that Edmond give him his money. And that is the moment where Edmond understands that life shouldn't be about pinstripe suits, and briefcases. It should be about the moment. People live in a "fog," and are constantly in a "dream," and they never just go out and accept reality. And thats when he gets into real trouble, when finally happy, goes home with a waitress named Glenna. After they have their fun, they have a conversation, where Glenna tries to tell him that she is an actress. Edmond doesn't think she is, because she never preforms in front of people. Everything is done in a classroom. She is a waitress, and that is the reality that she must accept. Edmond found his reality, and he wants everyone else to find it to, because it's the only way that we can truely be happy, and thats when everything just goes wrong.

It's hard to continue the plotline, or even start writing about it. I saw "Edmond" not really knowing what it was about. I saw a still from the film, and I love William H. Macy. It's just so haunting watching it unfold in front of you. Things happen up to the very last frame, that I never would have suspected. It's a living hell for Edmond, and watching this night unfold could be unsettling to the eyes and the ears. It's graphic, at times gross, and at times very profane. Macy shines, being virtually in every single scene in the film. And it doesn't only rely on his preformance, but also in the writing of David Mamet, who wrote this film based on his play. I can only imagine the kind of reception the play recieved years ago when it first premiered. "Edmond" needs to be seen. It's the type of film that has scenes which just continue to repeat in your head. It's about finding happiness in the moment, and in who you are. Edmond is right. We do live in such a fog, and such a set pace that sometimes it's hard to really remember who we are, because we are always trying to be what others are.