Edmond
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Movie Reviews of Edmond
Movie Review: In search of post modernist existentialism' s traces!
Summary: 5 Stars
Since the shocking film Requiem for a dream, the American Cinema had not produced such disturbing and brutal vision around the psychological progressive fragmentation of a not centered man; a perpetual looser, who, since an unplanned delay, decides to make a journey to the hospitals of the hell; a merciless gaze around this apparently normal world, a true urban jungle composed by pros, pimps, and all kind of illusions sellers and faked hopes: The world of the doubtfully named underworld is an unbelievable human gallery of unknown and unthinkable personages who hover the neon lights and the dark corners, waiting for the smallest opportunity to cheat the candid man who still believes all that glitters is gold.
Our tragic anti hero simply turned off the lights of the sanity, in search of a temporal and unsatisfied promised land, with determined by commercial stereotypes to guarantee what you need.
This hellish portrait is showed in two great movements; the outside world with its accustomed miseries and the inside world of this man who simply gave up to get on the life' theater. A woman who reads him his Tarot will ignite a chain of unlucky but unconsciously desired events in order to demonstrate himself the futility and banality of the urban paradise hovered by neon lights.
In the recent past, there have been cult movies related with similar issues. The man with the golden arm in the fifties directed by Otto Preminger; Roman Polanski 's Repulsion, Louis Malle`' s The fire within, Samuel Fuller's Shock corridor, Sidney Lumet's Pawnbroker, Ingmar Bergman's Persona or The shame and John Schelssinger's Midnight cowboy in the sixties; Lenny, Dog day afternoon, The offence, Paris Texas, Taxi driver and The merchant of the four seasons in the seventies; Ken Russell's China blue and Terry Gilliam's Brazil in the eighties and finally Fight club and Twelve monkeys in the nineties, are movies that prove the use of the imagination as elusive resource, the crumbling of the will and the breakthrough respect the normal behavior patterns still maintain the most intriguing vertexes we ever know.
William Macy is in top shape with this devastating feature. Disturbing, ambitious and delirious movie that will shock you.
Not recommended for squeamish.
Movie Review: William H. Macy is spectacular! He displays frustration, madness and speaks words of pure poetry.
Summary: 5 Stars
One of my favorite actors is William H. Macy. I also like the work of playwright and screenwriter David Mamet. Put these elements together, and I knew I had to see it, even though this 2005 film was panned by the critics and never really made it big in the theaters. Well, what is sourly overlooked by some is like sweet honey to others. And in this case, I'm one of those "others". From the very beginning, I was completely entranced. And then I was sorry when it was over.
The film is based on a play written in the early eighties. So it seems a little dated. But that didn't matter to me.
The film opens as William H. Macy, wearing a suit and tie and leaving his office, has a yearning to do something different. He stops in at a fortune tell who tells him that this is not where he's supposed to be. And so he goes home, tells his wife he is leaving her, and just walks away from his middle class humdrum life. Naturally the first place he goes is a bar where he meets another man in a suit who sympathizes with him in a long monologue. Yes, there are lots of long monologues in this film, most of which are spoken by Macy. And the words of these monologues are a combination of frustration, pearls of wisdom and pure poetry.
Macy is looking for an amorous adventure and so we follow him through a wide variety of sleazy clip joints and houses of ill repute. Often, he gets angry at the price and argues with the girls. Always, there is a rage inside of him that is ready to explode. We sense that. But we don't realize how unpredictable this streak is. We witness his character changing. We see him growing violent. First he beats up a pimp. And then, inevitably he's drawn in to an even more violent act - one that horrified me because I didn't quite think it would get quite this bad. The ending is very satisfying and fits right in to the rest of the film.
As far as Macy's acting goes, he does a super fantastic job. He seems to "own" the role. I can't think of any other actor who would do it as well.
I loved this film. And recommend it highly, especially if you're not afraid of a lot of realistic violence.
Movie Review: The Feel-Good Hit of the --- Ah, nevermind
Summary: 5 Stars
This is a fascinating film. I think the stage version would probably be preferable over the dvd, but William H. Macy makes that possibly untrue.
Story: Sad wretch tries to sever his ties to the world, but he cannot.
I enjoyed this because Mr. Macy is so darned good. I know Kenneth Branaugh did it on stage and I'm sure he was good, too, but Bill Macy- what an actor!
Anyhow. As a rather simple man, I'd just like to say to other rather simple guys: "This is the movie to watch if you think YOUR life has gone downhill."
On the more cerebral side, I'd say the main character makes a couple of valid points despite inevitably contradicting them later. That's how we (people) are: we struggle to understand "the rules" of life and then--thanks to the curse of free will--violate our own self-composed rules.
Some really smart guy once said that if God didn't exist, it would have been necessary to invent Him. The hero of this story could have sure used a good God!
One more thing: I know Edmund Burke only for the quotation "All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing." I didn't see that thought reflected at all in this film, so either I don't know enough about Burke or the different spelling of "Edmond" is meant to tell me this guy doesn't think that way. So obviously I'm not that smart.
Still, this is a good movie. Just not uplifting.
Movie Review: Surprising, Shocking, Fun To Watch
Summary: 5 Stars
I recently found this movie and bought it based on the actors involved. I was very pleasantly surprised, indeed! It is so much more than I expected. The box states that the movie is "A Heart-Pounding Thriller", so I expected something in the vein of Man On Fire. As I watched, I was reminded of Michael Douglas in Falling Down, except better, if that's possible. This movie is tragic, terrifying, and very funny. Talk about your mid-life crises!
I was not familiar with Mamet's work, but I am about to look for more!
Movie Review: Not for Everyone, but Mamet Fans are Gonna Love This...
Summary: 5 Stars
Wow, what a film!
Mamet who wrote one of my all time fave films, THE SPANISH PRISONER, again has created dialouge that is so mechanical, yet inexplicably beautiful. Stewart Gordon, who is sort of hit or miss, IMO, did a fantastic job as well as director. William H Macy, of course, was brilliant as Edmond, a man who quickly decends into madness and ends up confronting and becoming what he secretly fears the most.
All fans of psycho horror, bizarro need to check this puppy out!