![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
I'm an asshole... with an UZI!!!
Apr. 21st, 2007 11:08 amWhen I read David Mamet's play EDMOND a few years back, I recall thinking that I'd experienced a decidedly ugly piece of theatre, definitely of the style of modern theatre I had ranted about recently. The play's like Neil LaBute's Id, but delivered through Mamet's unmistakable voice. Sounds like a merry romp, eh? But it was so surreal that I just sorta went, "Well, that was... something," and promptly forgot about it, knowing that it wasn't one of the author's greatest works.
Then I discovered the film of EDMOND, made in 2005 with (who else?) William H. Macy. But that's not what interested me outright; no, the thing that really got my attention was that it was directed by Stewart Gordon, mastermind behind the legendary cult movie RE-ANIMATOR, due to the iconic success of which, the man hasn't been able to overcome. Just like Tobe Hooper, this is a director forever living in the shadow of his first hit.
How would this horror/genre director handle a Mamet play? Frankly, I think it's a brilliant and refreshing pairing; a very different style of director interpreting a stage play about, more or less, average people, though very much monsters in their own right. I wholeheartedly support more of this! I demand to see Rob Zombie direct HOW I LEARNED TO DRIVE by Paula Vogel!
The plot, such as it is, concerns Macy's descent into the underworld of New York City (very much NYC of the 70's and 80's, making the modern day setting a little jarring) as he encounters various thugs, shills, pimps, strippers, and whores on his journey to self-discovery, which only results in empty epiphany after empty epiphany to pump up his own twisted outlook as the story escalates in shocking violence. This is like anti-Hollywood acid version of FALLING DOWN (which is on my short list of films that should be remade).
The supporting cast, most of whom don't appear for more than five minutes of film time (a single scene in the play), includes Mamet regulars Joe Mantegna, Rebecca Pidgeon (duh), and Dulé Hill (really, the only one sorely missing here is Ed O'Neill, who really needs to get more work as a dramatic actor), as well as Dylan Walsh, George Wendt, Ling Bai, Denise Richards, Mena Suivari (man, she reminds me of Tammy), Debi Mazar, Julia Stiles*, and--thank the Lord--Jeffery motherfucking Combs. Because it wouldn't be a Stewart Gordon movie without Herbert West/The Question.
Much like the play, EDMOND the film was a deeply ugly, unpleasant film to experience, and that ending was imperative to making you walk out of that whole nightmare going, "Wow." Not "wow, that was brilliant," necessarily, but... well, mine was to smile half out of mischievousness, the way I did with AMERICAN PSYCHO/RULES OF ATTRACTION (if you liked those, by all means watch EDMOND) and half out of nervousness, thinking, "Wow, that was an ugly, evil little film."
If I'd seen this on stage, with a lesser cast and/or director, I dare say I would have outright hated EDMOND, just as I likely would have hated CLOSER, had I not seen the film first. The strength of the cast and the vision of the director of both made the films much, much stronger than your average Studio Theatre productive. But even still, many are going to hate--and I mean *violently* hate--EDMOND. If it were more of a success, people would be holding this film up as a sign of the moral degradation of society, and in a way, they'd be right (if nothing else, the degradation of 70's New York).
Aside from fans of Brett Easton Ellis, William H. Macy**, and RE-ANIMATOR, I cannot in good conscience recommend this film to anybody. This is a movie that you're either gonna love, hate, or appreciate it for what it is, even if it'll make you want to take a shower afterward and never, ever, ever watch again. Me, it was the very end that sold the whole thing, and left me with even the slightest smile on my face. If I can get up the courage to re-watch it, mayhaps I'll buy the DVD.
*To a lesser extent than I do with Keanu Reeves, I respect and like her a lot, even if I don't think she's too strong an actress. There's something likable about her, that she's a very earnest performer.
**Who does some of the best work I've ever seen, which says something, as Macy is one of the most strongly reliable actors out there. You can always except, at the very least, a solid performance from the man. I'd love to see him on stage someday.
Then I discovered the film of EDMOND, made in 2005 with (who else?) William H. Macy. But that's not what interested me outright; no, the thing that really got my attention was that it was directed by Stewart Gordon, mastermind behind the legendary cult movie RE-ANIMATOR, due to the iconic success of which, the man hasn't been able to overcome. Just like Tobe Hooper, this is a director forever living in the shadow of his first hit.
How would this horror/genre director handle a Mamet play? Frankly, I think it's a brilliant and refreshing pairing; a very different style of director interpreting a stage play about, more or less, average people, though very much monsters in their own right. I wholeheartedly support more of this! I demand to see Rob Zombie direct HOW I LEARNED TO DRIVE by Paula Vogel!
The plot, such as it is, concerns Macy's descent into the underworld of New York City (very much NYC of the 70's and 80's, making the modern day setting a little jarring) as he encounters various thugs, shills, pimps, strippers, and whores on his journey to self-discovery, which only results in empty epiphany after empty epiphany to pump up his own twisted outlook as the story escalates in shocking violence. This is like anti-Hollywood acid version of FALLING DOWN (which is on my short list of films that should be remade).
The supporting cast, most of whom don't appear for more than five minutes of film time (a single scene in the play), includes Mamet regulars Joe Mantegna, Rebecca Pidgeon (duh), and Dulé Hill (really, the only one sorely missing here is Ed O'Neill, who really needs to get more work as a dramatic actor), as well as Dylan Walsh, George Wendt, Ling Bai, Denise Richards, Mena Suivari (man, she reminds me of Tammy), Debi Mazar, Julia Stiles*, and--thank the Lord--Jeffery motherfucking Combs. Because it wouldn't be a Stewart Gordon movie without Herbert West/The Question.
Much like the play, EDMOND the film was a deeply ugly, unpleasant film to experience, and that ending was imperative to making you walk out of that whole nightmare going, "Wow." Not "wow, that was brilliant," necessarily, but... well, mine was to smile half out of mischievousness, the way I did with AMERICAN PSYCHO/RULES OF ATTRACTION (if you liked those, by all means watch EDMOND) and half out of nervousness, thinking, "Wow, that was an ugly, evil little film."
If I'd seen this on stage, with a lesser cast and/or director, I dare say I would have outright hated EDMOND, just as I likely would have hated CLOSER, had I not seen the film first. The strength of the cast and the vision of the director of both made the films much, much stronger than your average Studio Theatre productive. But even still, many are going to hate--and I mean *violently* hate--EDMOND. If it were more of a success, people would be holding this film up as a sign of the moral degradation of society, and in a way, they'd be right (if nothing else, the degradation of 70's New York).
Aside from fans of Brett Easton Ellis, William H. Macy**, and RE-ANIMATOR, I cannot in good conscience recommend this film to anybody. This is a movie that you're either gonna love, hate, or appreciate it for what it is, even if it'll make you want to take a shower afterward and never, ever, ever watch again. Me, it was the very end that sold the whole thing, and left me with even the slightest smile on my face. If I can get up the courage to re-watch it, mayhaps I'll buy the DVD.
*To a lesser extent than I do with Keanu Reeves, I respect and like her a lot, even if I don't think she's too strong an actress. There's something likable about her, that she's a very earnest performer.
**Who does some of the best work I've ever seen, which says something, as Macy is one of the most strongly reliable actors out there. You can always except, at the very least, a solid performance from the man. I'd love to see him on stage someday.
