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Show Wednesday, October 4, 2006 MAMET'S 'EDMOND' STANDS OUT the seedy streets of New York City and proceeds to get taken advantage of by pimps, prostitutes, strippers and three-card Monte dealers. Mamet makes sure continued from Page 5 to emphasize the irony of a single day. As he puts it, he's wealthy white businessman been wasting 47 years of his not being able to get what he wants while navigating a life stuck on autopilot. The second prison, the street world he couldn't posreal one, is a result of one sibly understand. Thematically speaking, the wild night in which Edmond puts an end to his film fits in well with much of ail-too-comfortable routine. Mamet's oeuvre, examining He leaves his wife, trolls social, racial and relational patterns and the way we define ourselves in the greater scope of humanity. Characters bandy about labels, generalizations and broad declarations—statements that mean nothing but which underscore their respective places in society. For instance, one guy, a fellow businessman played by Joe Mantegna, laments the sad, sorry plight of the white man, arguing that the black community "has it easy." Characters are frightened T H E DAILY U T A H CHRONICLE by the prospect of their chosen (or given) roles breaking down or being threatened in any way. Edmond, on the other hand, doesn't give a damn. At least not anymore. There is an interesting metamorphosis in his character. Early on, other people speak for him. When he tells his wife he's leaving her, she does all the talking. When he goes to the bar and has a drink, the Mantegna character rambles on and on, while Edmond just nods and uhhuhs and says, "I agree with you." By the end, he's screaming and shouting and philosophizing—and, at least in his mind, he's enlightened. Mamet is a stickler for rhythm—when he directs, he uses a metronome to keep the dialogue in proper step—which is what makes "Edmond" so curious. We get long-winded monologues that completely disrupt the flow of the story, and then there are sequences of dialogue that are perfectly structured—in which every word has a purpose and entire conversations roll off the actors' tongues. In other words, vintage Mamet. Consider one exchange between a police interrogator and a crime suspect: "Why'd you kill that girl?" "What girl?" "That girl you killed." "Edmond," directed ; by Stuart Gordon, is at the same time a disturbing character study and the darkest of dark comedies. It will not go down as one of Mamet's best, but it's certainly never boring. c.bellamy@ chronicle.utah.edu FILM PROBES HOBO ART film's characters, Frisco Jack, ever, Buz Blur explains that, whereas tramps and bums "To avoid the redundant commonness of the image "don't do jacks***." Similar to Frisco Jack, I began to (include) words, nearly all of "Bozo Texino's" names, phrases, anecdote characters have their own titles, alter egos, etc."—efcontinued from Page 5 anecdotes and philosophies fectively enlivening his art to relate, enriching the film with a form of transitional, als that live these gritty exis- and adding depth to the yet stable, poetics. tences. Within Daniel's film, quixotic imperative of its If the film has a message a somewhat secret society title. Bozo Texino himself in its meanderings^beyond makes itself known through eventually makes his pres- the appreciation of visual various men that mark their ence known in a not-too- beauty—it is that in mosignatures, such as Mainline surprising surprise: Texino ments of situational crises, Mac, Palm Tree Herby, Road is just an old rail worker dislocated individuals and Hog, Okay Crawdad, Coal- who, despite his boss's dis- artists alike have a compulsent, enjoyed marking his sion to communicate their trane and others. Along the romantic jour- symbols on thousands of presence within an increasingly destabilized world. ney of flitting, sun-streaked boxcars. scenery and the lolling roll While Texino may be the And somehow—in a uniof steel wheels, distinction film's namesake, its real star verse of trams, transience is generated among terms is the wayward artist who and tall tales—this comlike hobo, tramp and bum. went by the name Buz Blur. monality is genuinely reas"A hobo is productive— Like Texino, he also played suring. they contribute and work to- with repetition of a single s.young@ ward goals," said one of the self-portrait image. Howchronicle.utah.edu DEPARTED' A GLORIOUS THRILLER Costello, but in an ironic twist he's also been put in charge of finding the mole. What ensues is a fascinating cat-and-mouse exercise— fascinating because neither continued from Page 5 Billy nor Colin knows exactly whom they're chasing. Damon is Colin Sullivan, DiCaprio and Damon are whom Costello recruited two actors whose talents as a young kid 20 years ago often get marginalized be(think Ray Liotta's charac- cause of their fame and boyter in "GoodFellas"). Now, ish looks. Here, they give he's Costello's mole in the dual performances—their Special Investigations Unit. demeanors change dependNot only is he in charge of a ing on the company. We get task force organized to catch multiple sides to each char- By Giuseppe Verdi October 14 - 22 THE OPERA THAT MADE JULIA ROBERTS CRY TICKETS $10 AND UP. CALL 355-ARTS (2787) UTAH OPERA > . ' / " . i > ' T H A N K S TO THL C t O U C t S. A rj [) D O L O I ' t S D O f i L C >: t! Salt Lake City Good for You. Great for Life, www.zlbplasma.com 2978 South State Street. 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DiCaprio has one of the most emotionally expressive faces in the business, and he gives a multi-faceted performance as a man torn and tortured by anxiety and guilt, a man constantly on the verge of being found out. Damon, as the snarky detective/calculating mob soldier, is playing against type as the bad guy, and he's completely believable. Even though the two stars are rarely on screen together, there is a palpable and electrifying tension between the two as they get closer to discovering each other's identities. And then there's Nicholson, taking what originally was a small role and creating something of his own—a vitriolic and psychopathic villain who nonetheless comes across as a real character Instead of an over-the-top caricature. Only Jack could pull this off. And in sunglasses, too. Judging by plot summary alone, "The Departed" could be just another gimmicky crime thriller. But Scorsese and screenwriter William Monahan aren't satisfied with that. "Infernal Affairs" was a good movie, but never strayed far from the surface of the plot. "The Departed" goes deeper. Not only are the characters more defined, but the thematic intricacies give the film poignance and resonance that the original never could, even with all the on-screen charisma of Tony Leung and Andy Lau. "The Departed" isn't just about the respective betrayals of Costigan and Sullivan—it is about the very roots of betrayal itself. There are so many betrayals, on so many different levels, that the film seems to be taking the time to question the very definition of loyalty. It's unfortunate that some people have chosen to pigeonhole Scorsese, chastising him for "abandoning" the gangster movies that once defined him. Some have called this movie a "return to form," an unfair statement since he's made plenty of excellent movies even in recent years, such as "The Aviator" and the unheralded "Bringing Out the Dead." It is nice, however, to see Scorsese back on the mean streets. It reminds us that he basically created the modern crime genre. There would be no such thing as "The Sopranos," "The Usual Suspects" or even "Pulp Fiction" without him. With "The Departed," he proves he still does it better than anyone. c.bellamy@ chronicle.utah.edu |