Based on a Mamet play from the '80s, Edmond is about a chummy and repressed businessman who just kinda snaps one evening and sets out for a night of debauchery and sexual release. It sort of combines the feverish, all-nighter vibes of After Hours and Eyes Wide Shut with the vengeful misanthropy of Taxi Driver and Falling Down.
Unlike Travis Bickle or William Foster, though, there's absolutely no mistaking how pathetic Edmond Burke is. The power fantasy stuff is almost completely absent, and what we're left with instead is an awkward and often uncomfortable tale of loneliness and frustration. It's not as fun as those earlier comparables, nor is it nearly as consistent (the two scenes with Julia Stiles, for instance, don't convince in the slightest), and the affected dialogue gets a bit tiresome at times, but the intimate scope and dreamlike atmosphere mostly manage to similarly draw you in and keep you guessing.
Plus, if you're as big a fan of William H. Macy as I am, you probably shouldn't miss this one. I don't know if he's ever been more ferocious, or more pitiful (which is saying something), than he is here.
Grade: B+
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