Fears might be desires. Edmond after forty years of a flat life feed by prejudice and common sense values is an emotional analphabet, unable to choose a possible alternative to his current life. He will follow his destiny finding peace in the arms of his black cellmate: our worst dream that becomes true.

All that talent. All those wonderful words... and still this movie left me in awe of its extreme craptitude! Edmond Burke may have killed with a knife, but Mamet killed this movie with his nonsensical rants. Macy plays an empty shell of a man who seems to find a reason to 'live' thru violence,rage, racism and big words! Kept waiting for an eureka! moment where Macy's character would finally make sense! but it was not to be. sad to waste such talent as Macy, Mantegna,Stiles .… Expand

I don't think most of the reviewers got the joke. This movie (play) is about how nasty the world is outside of our social comfort level (Edmund actually says this) but presenting it in a way that ridicules that uneasiness. Sorry guys, but this is just as true now as in the 80's. Re: Mamet's dialogue, get over it. Go watch Crash or some other garbage if you can't deal with complex sentences.… Expand

This movie wasn't even worth the $3 I paid to rent it. The viewer is bored to death waiting for this movie to go somewhere, but it goes no where. I'm sure the egg head, artsy types, think this movie is great social commentary or art. However, if they were honest with themselves they would admit that it stinks. What filmmakers have to understand is that move of the public sees a movie to be entertained, not preached to! In the end this movie is a jumbled, incoherent mix of racism and politically correct satire. Don't waste your money.… Expand

I'm a big Mamet fan, and I was surprised to find that he himself adapted the screenplay. It came across to me like a ham-fisted parody of Mamet! It wasn't remotely plausible, and, if you're not meant to care about a character, you should be able to learn something from him. This had neither. The ending was surprisingly touching, but that ain't enough.

This film may be a bit hard to digest, but it is, nonetheless, powerful. William H. Macy gives his best Mamet play-based performance since Oleanna. Not unlike Ebb Roe Smith's script for Falling Down, Edmond packs a visceral punch, but likewise also suffers from a similar problem: most viewers will ultimately not like the main character despite feeling empathetic for him for some length of screen time. Keep in mind that Mamet wrote the play during his own fierce divorce. I say see it; just don't expect to feel good afterwards.… Expand

by far one of the worst movies I have ever seen. Macy tries to hard, the dialouge between characters is ridiculous. Especially during the jail rape scene. Avoid at all costs.

This film is utter rubbish. I rented it because my local Blockbuster stocked it and the back read ok so i thought id give it a go. Whoever payed $3 to rent it lucky you i payed $8.20 and feel ripped off. I would request that whoever made this tripe post me my money back and somehow give me back my 1 hour and 10 mins that i invested in watching it. If you want to make an art film then make one , if you want to make a racist film to make a quick buck out of the USAs closet racists then at least make sure that its better than Romper Stomper or American History x so normal people can just about watch it without dying of boredom. I feel no ability to tell readers what happened as nothing did! This film is a little like having a drunken conversation with a teenager ,Full of opinion with no substance or experiance to back up what they are saying coupled with total conviction that what they are saying is correct and everyone else should listen. Rather than watch this film donate the rental money to charity and call a friend that you havent spoken to for a while you will feel ultimatly more entertained and rewarded at the end of the conversation and you didnt give the worst film ever made any more money. If you are an atsy type as mentioned elsewhere in the reviews may i suggest a gallery the Gugenheim will be fine and look at a piccaso for an hour. I dont care how many times a person says that this is political satire, emotionally charged, social comfort challenging etcetcetc there are better examples of all of these things out there, stop trying to make yourselves look clever by giving bad films good reviews you only kid yourselves my friends!!!!… Expand

Mamet is becoming a cliche. His dialogue seems forced where at one time it was refreshing. The only reason I stayed with it was to find out if the end had some redeeming qualities. Oops. Big mistake. I'm really tempted to go on a rant amount Mamet and lose focus on commenting on this movie, but I won't. All I'll say about both the film and the writer is that both try way too hard to be clever. Maybe it worked better on the stage.… Expand

I am one of those egghead, artsy fartsy types with an MFA in film and a PhD. This film sucks. One point for hooker humor.