Edmond (2005)
A dark gritty ride and an overlooked gem in Stuart Gordon’s oeuvre
What if David Mamet decided to write an amalgam of Falling Down and Eyes Wide Shut, and Stuart Gordon directed it?
William H. Macy is Edmond, a middle aged man who leaves his attractive wife abruptly because he’s bored and thinks he can do better. After having a drink with a racist man in a bar played by Joe Mantegna, he goes out looking for a woman to have sex with by whatever means he can. First up, Denise Richards as a stripper who implies she’s willing to have sex with him but he must “buy her a drink,” the drinks are $50 each. He inexplicably yells “that’s too much” and refuses to pay, causing a scene and getting kicked out. He goes to a peep show where Bai Ling is stripping behind glass. He argues with her over $10. He goes to a brothel where he pays $68 to enter and tries to haggle with Mena Suvari because she charges $200, only to finally agree and hands her a credit card, which she obviously can’t charge. On his search for an ATM, he falls for a card sharp and is beaten when he argues with him. He finally goes to pawn his wedding ring and uses some of the money to buy a brass knuckles/knife combination, and in his mental state, you know that won’t go well.
Edmond is a straight descent to hell, and though it starts off repetitive (Edmond haggling with sex workers for multiple scenes), it’s quirky enough to remain interesting. Aside from Edmond himself and Julia Stiles as Glenna m, a waitress he meets and tries to have sex with along the way, none of the characters have names. It’s as if the title character can’t be bothered learning any names as he dehumanizes everyone he comes into contact with. Even the closing credits simply have character names like”Wife,” “Man in Bar,” “Whore,” and “Peepshow Girl.” An amazing ensemble supporting cast that includes the aforementioned Macy, Richards, Mantegna, Stiles, Ling, and Suvari as well as Stuart Gordon regular Jeffrey Combs, Cheers alum George Wendt, Bokeem Woodbine, and Debi Mazar, helps the film breeze by in its 82 minute run time. It’s a dark gritty ride and an overlooked gem in the great Stuart Gordon’s oeuvre.