Edmund (2005)

Edmund is a powerful drama of one man’s slide into madness that drags the audience along with him whether they want to go there or not.

For those willing to risk 90 minutes of their life watching it – even if they have to watch some of it peaking through the hands they have clamped over their eyes – it’s an ultimately rewarding experience if for no other reason than they get to see a great actor, William H. Macy, do some of the best work of his career.

In the movie Macy plays Edmund Burke, a mild-mannered fellow who one night, on impulse, goes to see a fortune teller who proclaims that the Tarot cards are revealing a problem in his life: He’s not where he’s supposed to be. Edmund takes her at her word and decides to make some drastic changes in his life, starting with telling his wife he’s leaving her because she no longer interests him ‘spiritually or sexually.’

What follows is a true descent into hell for Edmund. It would spoil things to give too much away; suffice it to say that with a script by David Mamet (Glengarry Glen Ross) and director Stuart Gordon (Re-Animator) behind the lens, it’s not a trip for the faint of heart.

Which makes Macy’s performance that much more impressive. There are very few actors who could do the things that Edmund Burke does and still make the audience care about what happens to him. Nobody would ever cheer Edmund Burke for his actions or his beliefs (and least I hope they wouldn’t), but Macy is powerful enough to make you want to understand the why behind it all.

Sarring William H. Macy, Denise Richards, Mena Suvari, Julia Stiles.
IMDB Site.