tieman64 This is a brief review of "Edmond" and "Glengarry Glen Ross", two films written by David Mamet.The lesser of the two, "Edmond" revolves around a businessman (William H. Macy) who has grown tired of the stresses and pressures of modern life. Trapped in an existential rut, and finding no love, purpose or satisfaction at work or at home, he breaks up with his wife and sets off for a night on the town. Here he hopes to hire a prostitute, but things don't go as planned, and pretty soon he's being arrested for a violent murder. The film is remarkably brisk (79 minutes), Mamet obsessed with modern emasculation and violent resentment, but weak direction by Stuart Gordon undermines his screenplay's better qualities.Capitalism as a slow train to hell, "Glangarry Glen Ross" is merely an ensemble version of "Edmond". Here the businessmen are a group of real estate agents who struggle to cope with deadlines and targets. They're fired by their company and given a ruthless ultimatum: sell or you won't be rehired. Eventually the pressure of meeting targets proves too much and one salesman commits a shocking crime.Filled with meaty dialogue and lengthy monologues, "Glengarry" is elevated by several bombastic moments by actors Al Pacino, Ed Harris, Alec Baldwin and Jack Lemmon. It's a joy to watch these actors chew scenery, even if the film ultimately amounts to a group of middle class, middle aged men, moaning about the drudgery of their 9 to 5 lives.7.5/10 - Worth one viewing.

MBunge Most writers wish more than anything that they could develop their own distinctive voice, like famed playwright David Mamet has done. The problem with people recognizing the way you say things, though, is that it makes it really damn obvious when you've got nothing to say. Edmond is an empty, meandering, quizzical and fairly self-involved bit of blather. If this script didn't have Mamet's name on it, it likely would never have been produced and certainly wouldn't have attracted such a talented cast.Based on a stage play, this movie follows the journey of upper middle class New Yorker Edmond (William H. Macy) as he decides to leave his wife and sets out across the city to get himself laid. He humorously haggles over price with several strippers and whores, bangs a pretty young waitress, gets beaten up by some streetside hustlers, beats the ass of a deceitful pimp, commits a senseless murder and alternately rages and pontificates about predestination, social graces and the racial and societal preoccupations of upper middle class New Yorkers.The first observation to make about this film is that Edmond and the waitress he picks up for a one night stand are the only characters to have actual names. Everyone else goes unnamed during the movie and is listed in the credits as "Matron", "B-Girl", "Whore", "Interrogator", etc. It's my experience that when characters in a story don't have real names, it's usually a sign of either lazy writing or affectation. Either way, it's a bad sign and indicates what you're watching or reading is excessively contrived. That's true of Edmond, where unreal people say and do unreal things. They're never living their lives, only playing parts and mouthing dialog that isn't nearly as clever as Mamet believes and isn't at all insightful or thought-provoking.When you look deeper into this movie, you discover that there's no reason for anything that happens in it. Why does Edmond leave his wife? Why is he bitter and frustrated? Why is he so cheap when it comes to paying for sex? Why does he commit murder? There's no explanation for any of it other than "just because". Now, Mamet may have been attempting to make the randomness of human behavior the point of his story. That purpose still wouldn't make it interesting or entertaining.One of the jumble of things this film throws against the wall is white racism. It's nothing more than William H. Macy and Joe Mantegna spouting off bigotry both malevolent and condescending, only to see Edmond wind up seeking salvation from the late-night services of a black Baptist congregation. Again, Mamet may have been trying to say something about the clueless racial pretensions of white folk, but that intent doesn't produce anything meaningful or revealing.If you've ever watched good Mamet before, it'll be easy to recognize this as bad Mamet. Edmond has the same rhythms, tone and verbal ticks and habits being applied to an idea that doesn't go anywhere because it has nowhere to go. It's a bit like listening to a great singer belt out an awful song. Imagine Celine Dion doing a rendition of some nonsense rap song about women's butt cheeks. It would only be enjoyable as parody or satire, which this movie clearly isn't trying or intended to be.Edmond is blessedly short at just over 80 minutes long. That's still 80+ minutes that would be better spent doing something besides watching this film.

coba57 I kept expecting this film to get better but it never did. The film starts off in a promising manner but meanders in all sorts of irrelevant scenarios. Although Mamet is known for his use of language/words above all else, his language, ideas and concepts couldn't save this movie from being an incredible bore. Save your time-watch something else. William Macy is wasted in this film. I spent 1/2 the time trying to figure out where the movie was filmed. Sometimes it reminded me of the same city presented in Eyes Wide Shut and other times it seemed as if the film took place in some gritty part of Los Angeles. Try Mamet's House of Games instead.

kshitij (axile007) Edmond a kind of movie I would have loved watching anytime. David Mamet did an excellent job depicting the reality and troubles, an ordinary man has to face. It looks so close to reality where everything showed appeared true. Edmond is a story of simple man Edward Burke who left home on account of his boring life to seek some manly pleasure but end up getting bugged everywhere he went. Even after trying he failed to get himself out of the mess which eventually made him loose his nerves. The movie is quite sexy and passionate .But what I liked most about it was the question that Edmond put up..& his views about how human race is living,as he encountered the harsh world & very much are those questions make sense though they may seemed to be associated with some philosophical theories. William H Macy again showed how natural his acting is! In short, Edmond is really an impressive movie but I would confess that its equally shocking and disturbing as well considering it is quite near to the kind of world we try to survive in...