User Reviews

I just saw Homicide for the first time and I was quite impressed. It is very much a Mamet film, film about men and their world, with a setting that fits a B film but a deeper message that reaches (and sometimes over reaches) for the stars. I often find my self thinking, why is this man, this talent picking this subject when he wants to make something profound and beautiful? But then you just can't take your eyes of the professionalism and you find your self being dragged into an ultra masculine world full of shallow and surprisingly deep meanings, side by side.

Homicide is one of his deeper films but it is impossible to talk about why it is good without revealing the end of the film, so SPOILERS! There are not many films about a detective who does not solve the case, who starts running in the wrong direction and looses him self on the way. That alone is praiseworthy. What is even rarer is to find a film that manages to make that mean something, give that a deeper meaning. I believe the film is quite postmodern. We can't look for the truth without taking some of our self into that search. Sometimes it just colors our conclusions but at other times it takes us into the wrong direction. Here is a hero looking for a self identity and he mixes that up into the case and gets the wrong answers. The word he was looking for had nothing to do with the case. It was just pigeon seeds. No conspiracy, nothing. Just like everyone told him, someone desperate looking for money. The scary thing is that we all do this, every single day of the year. When we listen to the news, when we justify our actions, when we help our friends. We filter what we hear and see through what we know and hold dear. What comes out is never the whole truth and nothing but the truth. It might resemble the truth, if we are lucky! END OF SPOILERS!!!

This film is not without faults. It feels like a stage play at times. You can feel that Mamet has not managed to lave the theatre behind even though the film is quite visual. The problem is the acting. It is not bad, it's just not film acting, if you get my drift.

David Mamet's "Homicide" stars Joe Mantegna as Bobby Gold, a homicide detective who is in the process of tracking down a ruthless drug dealer. As the film progresses, however, it breaks away from the crime genre and becomes a haunting examination of self-identity. Bobby, it turns out, has spent his life being bullied for his Jewish ancestry. This has led to feelings of low self worth, anxiety and isolation. As a result, Bobby joins the police force, a conscious attempt to abandon his roots and become a "public servant" of America. More insidious, though, is the implication that those persecuted for a perceived weakness themselves seek power and the authority from which to dispense violence.

Believing his Jewishness to be the reason for his constant persecution, Bobby adopts a completely new persona, often swearing and insulting Jews. He abuses to fit in. But even in the police force Bobby is bullied. Alienated, he becomes a self-hating Jew, constantly trying to prove his worth and gain acceptance.

The film's second act finds Bobby being given the opportunity to help an underground Zionist organisation responsible for bombing neo-Nazi sleeper cells. Unsurprisingly, he is seduced by the power and confidence these Jews exude, and wishes to join them; he seeks to symbolically reclaim his Jewish roots.

Typical of Mamet, the film then reveals itself to be an elaborate con game. The Zionist organisation is merely using Bobby as a means of getting at a list hidden in police storage. They blackmail him and force him to make a choice: serve the Jews or serve the police. This, of course, is hugely subversive, especially in light of Spielberg's big Holocaust list movie released some years later.

The film's final acts find Bobby being forced to choose between being dutiful to the police force (and by extension the US) and being dutiful to Israel (and by extension his ancestors). He chooses the former, but to no avail. Due to several unfortunate events, Bobby fouls a police operation, loses his partner and gets shot in the leg. He is then demoted, the film ending with Bobby shunned by the police force and bitter at being used and mismanaged by his "Jewish brothers". Without friends or family, and betrayed by the Zionist organisation, Bobby becomes further alienated; a wandering Jew, forever without country, family or roots. It's a very depressing ending.

In the film, three demands are placed on Gold: to be a Jew, to understand evil and to do his job. Mamet shows that evil is the betrayal of self (the defamation of oneself in the hope of gaining recognition). In this regard, Gold's name is itself symbolic. He does not recognise his own worth, relying instead on outside validation, an act which symbolically results in "gold" turning into "mud".

Elsewhere Mamet makes several parallels between conspiracies directed against the Jews and various forms of persecution against blacks. The film's title, "Homicide", is itself a pun. Here it means "death of the home".

Other interesting things abound. Roger Deakins' cinematography is gorgeous and Mamet, as is typical, undermines genre conventions at every turn. He has his police hero constantly falling when doing "cool action jumps", police squad cars skid fancifully to a halt for no particular reason, dramatic showdowns occur with something as trivial as a dog and the police officers are always apologetic and polite after insulting one another. And of course, as is expected, Mamet's dialogue is a delight to listen to. It's rhythmically sloppy.

In many ways this is Mamet's last film. After "Homicide" Mamet would write a book in which he explains his new philosophy of film-making. From this point onwards he would strip his films down drastically. The lighting would be flat, the dialogue would be direct, the camera work would be virtually non-existent and the music would be minimal.

Consider this line from Mamet's book: "Acting should be a series of simple physical actions. If the actor wants to know how he should walk to a door in the scene, the director should tell him, 'Go to the door,' and, if the actor presses on: 'Go to the door. Quickly.' Don't act. Don't emote. No motivation. No back-story. No character arc. No discovery. These are indulgences that cannot possibly be manifested physically. Just go to the door. Quickly. Cut. Print. Go home."

Mamet's new found philosophy – which he calls "heightened logic" - is important in understanding why his films are so self consciously artificial, why his stories all revolve around elaborate cons and why he directs such trashy material. On the surface, Mamet's films are all about con-jobs, but covertly, they're all about Mamet's true passion: language. Language is often – if not inherently - selfish. To talk, especially in the way that Mamet's characters talk, is to con. Stunted half sentences and droning repetitions aren't there just for the fun of it. They are successful and less successful attempts at persuasion.

So thematically, Mamet's films are all about "words". Post "Homicide", however, his directing style evolved in such a way as to eradicate everything that detracts from his words. By removing music, cinematography, acting, sound etc, you've essentially cancelled out the director's "vision". And after you've cancelled out a director's "vision" and an actor's "interpretation", nothing remains but the writer's words.

Another reason for the drastic change in style (post "Homicide") is Mamet's belief that neither film nor art has the power to educate audiences, change views or teach. Art, in his very pessimistic view, merely affirms the wisdom of the wise and ignorance of the ignorant. So instead of "content", Mamet's films have avoided "issues" entirely and become preoccupied with a kind of Zen like professionalism. His scripts are attempts to perfect the "word". An effort to keep on working, for no better reason than to hone one's personal skills.

8.5/10 – See Melville's "Army of Shadows" and Lumet's "The Pawnbroker".

A professional hostage negotiator in a nameless big city police department finds more than he bargains for while investigating the murder of an elderly Jewish shop owner. David Mamet's third film is both cerebral and exciting, but for the first time his confidence as a director may have actually surpassed his skills as a writer. To his credit Mamet (as director) refuses to rely on formula technique. He doesn't, for example, lean on the crutch of music cues to generate easy suspense, most likely because the dialogue itself is Mamet's music, although the deliberate, emphatic pacing of each word might have sounded totally bogus if the script weren't so well written. But it's a pity he didn't extend the same care for language to his story as well. The tricky plot, involving issues of race hatred and cultural identity, is certainly pessimistic (in a shallow sort of way), but it doesn't add anything new to the idea that Everyone Hates Everybody Else, and the irony of the final revelation is deflated by the massive coincidence of a vital clue being revealed as an innocent scrap of waste paper.

Strong performances by Joe Mantegna, William H. Macy, and others, somewhat offsets the hard to swallow script. Intelligent dialog permeates the film, and it does not lack action. What appears to be missing is an appropriate ending that ties up the many dangling plot threads. "Homicide" has a strong undercurrent of unanswered questions that will gnaw at the viewer following the rushed conclusion. Torn between two investigations, Mantegna's character is pivotal, and in the end his decisions seem neither logical or likely. Nevertheless, "Homicide" is far better than most police drama's and worth seeking out for the fine performances. - MERK

After an excellent start, the movie took an unexpected turn for the worse starting around the break-in scene to this nazi (deliberate lower-case spelling) store. So I ended up with mixed feelings even after having read numerous reviews and after re-evaluating my initial impressions.

I love David Mamet so I don't have the heart to give a low rating because I don't want to spoil the average.

Now I come to my biggest gripe. Joe Mantegna is a superb actor who shined in, e.g., House of Games by Mamet but he is miserably miscast here. You see the truth is that no gentile can ever play a real Jew, not even a secular one. Well, there is one exception to this rule I am aware of, namely, Armin Mueller-Stahl. I can also imagine Robert De Niro playing a Jew (he did more than once) but even that is a stretch. Joe Mantegna? No way. Even Rebecca Pidgeon who is a converted Jewess in real life is out of place here.

Anyway, despite not liking this movie and even some of his other ones as well, David Mamet remains one of my favorites.

A very interesting mystery thriller which unfortunately completely falls apart in the last third.

Mantegna, playing a Jew, behaves in an increasingly absurd, unconvincing, and baffling way in the last third; he suddenly becomes a proud Jew who wants to fight for "the cause" and even blows up a Nazi owner's store to make his older, new Jewish acquaintances accept him as a brothers-in-arms Jew. Then there is that scene with him and Rhames which just lacks realism. But the most disappointing thing about the movie is just how totally illogical the final twist is; the ending basically throws the entire movie's events upside-down on its head, and absolutely nothing adds up! Apparently he was set up by the secret Jewish organization in order to... what? It isn't clear at all.

Let's start from the beginning: Mantegna totally coincidentally stumbles on a murder case with an old Jewish lady, and in no time is he re-assigned from an old case to that Jewish-murder case by powerful, rich New York Jews. He is then, as we find out at the end through that silly twist, lead on by the family of the dead Jewish lady to believe that someone is trying to kill them from a roof, where they evidently put a man to play a killer, and where they planted a piece of paper with a pseudo-name of Hitler's written on it, implying an anti-Semitic plot. Mantegna is then, once again, set up by the Jews - in a library - where he is fooled into discovering a secret Jewish military base in an old building. The old Jews tell him to give them a piece of paper; a list of names. After he says he can't because it's a piece of filed-away police evidence, they get all sulky and annoyed by his lack of "Jewishness". This gets Mantegna to feel so extremely guilty that he wants to make it up for them: he finds a Jewish woman he met previously and somehow knows before-hand that she is also involved. How the hell did he know that?! Absurd. Then she leads him on to blow up the Nazi owner's store, but it is he who volunteers to do it. How did "they" know he would volunteer? Shaky credibility there. And then the Jews blackmail him with photos of him blowing up the store if he doesn't give them that list.

So what's the story here??!... The Jews set him up so that he would blow up the store? And why?: because that would force him to give them the list. There is only one problem with that: he wouldn't have had the list in the first place if the Jews hadn't given him the murder case! The movie makes no sense at all. It turns out that the murderers of the old lady were some black kids, and that Mantegna was set up. That's all we ever find out. What we don't ever find out is: 1) was there a Jewish terrorist group? 2) If they did exist then why frame Mantegna? 3) How would they possibly know how Mantegna would think, act, or react in a SERIES of different situations and discoveries during his research of the case? 4) Above all, how the hell did they know he would be a Jew who would develop extreme feelings of guilt in such a short period of time for "neglecting" his Jewishness? Mamet has totally screwed up with the logic this time. While the other two movies I saw were sometimes far-fetched, they never lacked logic and a credible conclusion. This time around, however, Mamet leaves so many loose ends that the viewer can only finish the movie feeling confused and somewhat disappointed.

Wiki plot premise; Bobby Gold (Mantegna) is an inner-city homicide detective on the trail of Robert Randolph (Rhames), a drug-dealer and cop-killer on the FBI's Ten Most Wanted List. En route to nab an accomplice of Randolph, Gold and his partner Tim Sullivan (Macy) happen upon a murder scene: the elderly Jewish owner of a candy store in a black ghetto has been gunned down, reportedly for a fortune hidden in her basement. The deceased woman's son, a doctor, uses his clout to have Gold assigned to the case in the belief that Gold, himself Jewish, might be empathetic to his plight.

My comments; This is a story with some interesting themes Like Mamets later film Glengarry Glen Ross, the main protagonist has a gift with words and spinning fantasies. Like the salesmen in that movie, detective Gold has the gift and uses it to convince suspects and witnesses that everything will be OK as long as they do what he says.

This gift makes him a skilled and valuable member of the police force and of his smaller team of detectives. The twist in the story is that he gets caught up in his on fantasy and is first manipulated and then consumed to the extent, his colleagues and those he has made promises to are let down {I wont give away the ending}.

*SPOILERS*SPOILERS*SPOILERS*SPOILERS*SPOILERS

"Homicide " is a movie from David Mamet that feels like a movie , instead of stage play like his other movies. It's surprising well directed . It has a dark , gritty feel . The dialogue are great , after all it's a trademark of Mamet. The actors are allowed to show emotions and they gave energetic performances.

Joe Mantegna is great in the main role , even better than he was in "House of games". Of course he plays now a different character and is the main star. His character is tough and independent , yet his also a good man . Mantegna shows the transformation of his character in a very believable way . I was also surprised and delighted to see William Macy as a tough guy for once instead of his usual "shy guy" role. Ving Rhames gives a good episode. Anyway the acting is rally good here and even Rebecca Pidgeon (Mamet's second wife) is watchable.

"Homicide" is a good drama about identity , about discovering one and losing another . It's a sad , bitter and very real life movie. The final exchange of looks between Mantegna and the prisoner reminds us how evil very often comes from the need to do good.

The main problem is the ending . It works as a drama , but from logical point of view it's one big plot hole. 1) Was there a Secret Jewish organization or not ? I have seen this movie two times and it's still a confusing thing . Personally I think they were arms dealers. 2) It really doesn't matter who they were . The point is that the whole operation was a trick to convince Mantegna to give them the list . The problem is that a) they couldn't be sure that Mantegna will find it (he did find it very accidentally) , b) he couldn't give the list to them , because it was locked in police headquarters. I thought (the first time I've seen the movie) that "Homicide" will end with Mantegna stealing the list from the headquarters and getting fired. They were able to blackmail Mantegna with photos , but they couldn't be really sure that Mantegna will care so much to personally destroy the shop. 3) In the end the Jews failed because Mantegna is fired from police and he won't be able to steal the list , even if he would want to. So the lists lies in the police headquarters and they are left with nothing despite so much work…

I give it 7/10.

I realized about the existence of HOMICIDE, through the website of the Criterion Collection, around this year's July. It was announced in the Criterion site as one of their coming soon titles (it was released three moths ago) so and since it gained my attention more than other Criterion titles I immediately investigated about the existence of its R4 DVD. Turned out it does existed, but I wasn't able to find it at my usual store. Last weekend in a walmart I decided to check out the DVDs and to my surprise and joy there it was the R4 DVD of Mamet's 1991 film.

Joe Mantegna plays a Jewish detective (Bob Gold), and is like we are always ready for the more conventional things, ready to accept and enjoy those things just because we like Mantegna's character. Mantegna's performance is great and that is part of why when the whole thing is conventional material we accept the whole thing, we really enjoy it. I mean, the film begins with the FBI dropping a case that now out detectives will take (Mantegna's detective and the partner, Macy's character, Tim Sullivan), and is just like the conventional problems for our characters, they did their job just about fine but still they get the blame. The main issue here is that these two, Bob and Tim, gain us immediately, there is enough to see that both are good cops and, principally, there's this part in which we see that both are real partners (just after we know that Bob is Jewish). The film continues to be a simple cop film, and I loved those moments: is like, Bob ain't a very lucky man and finally the moment he is going to work on a really big case (words about how is bob) the moment we confirm about his lack of luck.

It's just about having Bob into something and something else that seems more important going on

Maybe going for the conspiration thing was the move expected by us but is like Mamet reminds to us that this is all about a man, a man who is Jewish but can't "" , a man who has no family, a man, I will for once cite the description that comes in the box of the R4 DVD, who thinks is doing the right thing. It's pretty darn hard the ending because it makes you think, it makes you think in Tim getting killed but mostly in what Bob is thinking after receiving the promised help of a random guy who shot his family and was treated fairly well by Bob. It's not satisfying as a conventional thriller but that's why it's great, and hell just seeing Mantegna going for this and going for that is a joy (Macy is not really that many minutes in the screen). 9.5 out of 10

The two criminal investigations that are launched early on in this crime drama provide the backdrop for an even more powerful story that unfolds as a homicide detective becomes embroiled in a journey of self-discovery that leads to his downfall. Issues of race, religion and loyalties suddenly loom large as he tries to come to terms with his own identity and in the process, loses his objectivity and his professionalism. The consequences of his actions then prove to be far more devastating than he could ever have imagined as he gradually comes to recognise "the nature of evil".

As Homicide Detectives Bobby Gold (Joe Mantegna) and Tim Sullivan (William H Macy) speed through the streets of their city on their way to speak to the brother-in-law of a dangerous drug dealer/cop killer, Gold feels highly motivated because he knows that if they can apprehend Robert Randolph (Ving Rhames), they'll gain plenty of kudos and recognition, not least because this particular criminal had previously humiliated the FBI by escaping their clutches, even when he was massively outnumbered by them The detectives' journey gets interrupted, however, when they come across another crime scene and Gold discovers the dead body of an elderly Jewish woman behind the counter of her candy store which is situated in a black ghetto.

Gold's frustration about being delayed in his pursuit of Randolph soon heightens after he gets assigned to the murder case because the victim's son, who happens to be a wealthy doctor with friends in high places, was able to pull the necessary strings to make this happen. The doctor's motive for doing this was because he believed that, as a Jew himself, Gold would recognise that the murder was a hate crime rather than simply a "robbery gone wrong". Gold, who's first and foremost an honest cop, tends to believe that he's dealing with a straightforward murder case and initially regards the victim's family as rather hysterical and paranoid.

In his subsequent dealings with the Jewish people he encounters, Gold is regularly patronised, treated contemptuously and repeatedly urged to abandon his normal neutrality and do whatever is needed to protect his own people. As Gold is a non-practising Jew who has never previously felt particularly Jewish, he starts to think more deeply about where his loyalties should lie and as well as starting to believe in the existence of a conspiracy, allows himself to be recruited into a militant Zionist group with whom he participates in the bombing of a property which is being used by a Neo-Nazi group. The group that he'd worked with then use his commitment to their cause to blackmail him and the slippery slope that he finds himself on, eventually leads to him being given a knowing glance by a man who, some time earlier, at a time when he wasn't interested in listening, had offered to tell him how to solve the problem of evil.

Joe Montegna does a fantastic job of making his character's malleability seem credible and is even more accomplished in the natural way in which he looks so ashamed when Gold suddenly realises that an anti-Semitic rant he'd indulged in had been overheard by a member of the doctor's family. William H Macy is perfect as Gold's Irish partner who keeps his feet firmly on the ground at all times and Ving Rhames makes a strong impression in his important supporting role.

The movie's story is told with great precision, intensity and pace and the kind of mesmeric quality that's a familiar feature of David Mamet's work. It's fascinating to watch and for some unaccountable reason, despite its numerous merits, still remains criminally under-appreciated