Can I give a negative review and criticize someone for doing what they do well? That is the case with David Mamet's Edmond. I'm not a particular fan of David Mamet and his work, so that is a negative going in with me already. But I did my best to be open minded and gave it a fair and honest shot and to maybe be surprised. I have seen a lot of films I expected to loathe and walked out loving them. There has also been films that I expected to love and absolutely hated. So you never know what to expect when seeing a film.

For Mamet fans, you'll be happy as can be. For everyone else? You'll see a lot of the same Mamet we have seen in films like The Verdict and Glengarry Glen Ross. Neither of which I was a big fan of. The star and lead in his film is William H. Macy as Edmond. He is basically your Kevin Spacey in American Beauty. A seemingly normal business man having a midlife crisis. After a meeting is moved, he ends up at a fortune teller who gives him the information that he is not where he is supposed to be. After the teller, he goes to a bar and meets a man (Joe Mantegna), who has some unique views on blacks and life in general.

Next up is Mena Suvari in Edmon's search for a quick and cheap lay. Needless to say, this does not go well either. Then Edmond ends up losing a game of three-card monte and gets mugged and robbed. He pawns his ring in exchange for a knife. He then has time to look for some more love in all the wrong places at the hands of a pimp (Lionel Mark Smith). Think of him as the black Harvey Keitel from Taxi Driver. The pimp tries to rob him, but Edmond uses that knife and causes a world-wind of violence. He finally gets his wish for some loving when he meets a waitress in Julia Stiles. It starts off well, but does not end up as well as he had hoped.

The film is very erratic and all over the map. Characters pop in, pop out, and come at us at like pop ups on a bad computer. I wish the film would have slowed down and told us a narrative story instead of throwing a bunch of characters at us. The film suffers from being too messy. With all the actors involved, you should let them act, let them be funny, let them do what they do best. No one outside of Macy is really used to their full potential. They are mostly used to move along the plot. You could have used anyone in their particular roles.

The film also tries a little too hard to get a reaction out of us with its racial comments and its characters. It becomes a little annoying and does not get the controversial reaction it was clearly aiming for. It comes off as trying far too hard to get under your skin or get you to react. I became numb to it and thought it was lazy and unoriginal. Also, the film has far too many moments of characters sitting down with their warped thoughts about life and making sense of it all. It was like a bunch of therapists sitting down.

Edmond needed to be less talk and more action. This type of film and its environment is better suited for the stage. On screen it comes off as hard to follow, overdone, and over the top. With Mamet, you either love the guy or you hate the guy. If you love him, this film is right up your alley. If you are like me and not a fan of him, you'll be hard pressed to enjoy it. It does run fairly short at 82 minutes though.

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