Homicide (1991 film)
Encyclopedia
Homicide is a mystery film
Mystery film
Mystery film is a sub-genre of the more general category of crime film and at times the thriller genre. It focuses on the efforts of the detective, private investigator or amateur sleuth to solve the mysterious circumstances of a crime by means of clues, investigation, and clever deduction.The...

 crime
Crime
Crime is the breach of rules or laws for which some governing authority can ultimately prescribe a conviction...

 drama
Drama
Drama is the specific mode of fiction represented in performance. The term comes from a Greek word meaning "action" , which is derived from "to do","to act" . The enactment of drama in theatre, performed by actors on a stage before an audience, presupposes collaborative modes of production and a...

 written and directed by David Mamet
David Mamet
David Alan Mamet is an American playwright, essayist, screenwriter and film director.Best known as a playwright, Mamet won a Pulitzer Prize and received a Tony nomination for Glengarry Glen Ross . He also received a Tony nomination for Speed-the-Plow . As a screenwriter, he received Oscar...

, and released in 1991
1991 in film
The year 1991 in film involved some significant events.-Events:*April 28 - Bonnie Raitt marries actor Michael O'Keefe in New York* Terminator 2: Judgment Day, became one of the landmarks for science fiction action films with its groundbreaking visual effects from Industrial Light & Magic.*November...

. The film's cast includes Joe Mantegna
Joe Mantegna
Joseph Anthony "Joe" Mantegna, Jr. is an American actor, producer, writer,director, and voice actor. He is best known for his roles in box office hits such as Three Amigos , The Godfather Part III , Forget Paris , and Up Close & Personal...

, William H. Macy
William H. Macy
William Hall Macy, Jr. is an American actor and writer. He was nominated for an Academy Award for his role as Jerry Lundegaard in Fargo. He is also a teacher and director in theater, film and television. His film career has been built mostly on his appearances in small, independent films, though...

, and Ving Rhames
Ving Rhames
Irving Rameses "Ving" Rhames is an American actor best known for his work in Bringing Out the Dead, Pulp Fiction, Baby Boy, Don King: Only in America, and the Mission: Impossible film series.-Early life and education:...

. It was entered into the 1991 Cannes Film Festival
1991 Cannes Film Festival
- Jury :*Roman Polanski *Férid Boughedir *Whoopi Goldberg *Margaret Menegoz *Natalia Negoda *Alan Parker *Jean-Paul Rappeneau *Hans Dieter Seidel *Vittorio Storaro...

.

Plot

Bobby Gold (Mantegna) is an inner-city homicide
Homicide
Homicide refers to the act of a human killing another human. Murder, for example, is a type of homicide. It can also describe a person who has committed such an act, though this use is rare in modern English...

 detective
Detective
A detective is an investigator, either a member of a police agency or a private person. The latter may be known as private investigators or "private eyes"...

 on the trail of Robert Randolph (Rhames), a drug-dealer and cop-killer on the FBI
Federal Bureau of Investigation
The Federal Bureau of Investigation is an agency of the United States Department of Justice that serves as both a federal criminal investigative body and an internal intelligence agency . The FBI has investigative jurisdiction over violations of more than 200 categories of federal crime...

's Ten Most Wanted List. While en route to nab an accomplice of Randolph, Gold and his partner Sullivan (Macy) happen upon a murder
Murder
Murder is the unlawful killing, with malice aforethought, of another human being, and generally this state of mind distinguishes murder from other forms of unlawful homicide...

 scene: the elderly Jewish owner of a candy store in a black ghetto
Ghetto
A ghetto is a section of a city predominantly occupied by a group who live there, especially because of social, economic, or legal issues.The term was originally used in Venice to describe the area where Jews were compelled to live. The term now refers to an overcrowded urban area often associated...

 has been gunned down, presumably for a fortune hidden in her basement. The deceased woman's son, a doctor
Physician
A physician is a health care provider who practices the profession of medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring human health through the study, diagnosis, and treatment of disease, injury and other physical and mental impairments...

, uses his clout to have Gold assigned to the case in the belief that Gold, himself Jewish, might be empathetic to his plight. Gold, however, seems to disregard his ethnicity, and beyond that, he's irritated about being pulled off a much higher-profile case. A nighttime survey of the crime scene uncovers an important piece of the woman's past, and Gold's reluctance turns to curiosity, leading to the discovery of a Zionist organization operating in the city. As the film reaches its climax, Gold is thrust into a series of circumstances that test not only his loyalty to the badge, but also his newfound Jewish consciousness.

Mamet's aim with this, his third directorial effort, seemed to be to take elements from conventional pictures—namely, police procedurals—and place them in the framework of a story dealing with issues of identity, conspiracy, and duty. As is common, the end result was more of a success with critics than audiences. Prominent among all else in the film is Mamet's trademark dialogue
Dialogue
Dialogue is a literary and theatrical form consisting of a written or spoken conversational exchange between two or more people....

, especially the verbiage among authority figures, where much is revealed through both soliloquy
Soliloquy
A soliloquy is a device often used in drama whereby a character relates his or her thoughts and feelings to him/herself and to the audience without addressing any of the other characters, and is delivered often when they are alone or think they are alone. Soliloquy is distinct from monologue and...

 and invective
Invective
Invective , from Middle English "invectif", or Old French and Late Latin "invectus", is an abusive, reproachful or venomous language used to express blame or censure; also, a rude expression or discourse intended to offend or hurt. Vituperation, or deeply-seated ill will, vitriol...

. This is said to be best typefied in two scenes: the first occurs at the beginning, where in the midst of dressing down Gold, a black official calls him a kike
Kike
Kike is a derogatory slur used to refer to a Jew.-Etymology:The source of the term is uncertain. According to the Oxford English Dictionary, it may be an alteration of the endings –ki or –ky common in the personal names of Jews in eastern Europe who immigrated to the United States in the early...

, raising the ire of both Gold and Sullivan; the second—perhaps the most talked-about moment in the film—occurs during a phone conversation Gold has with Sullivan in the study of the doctor's office, where he spews forth a startling tirade of profanity and anti-Semitic insults, little knowing that the dead woman's granddaughter is in the room and is listening to every word. Bobby also in a moment of rage at the death of Sullivan, calls Randolph a nigger
Nigger
Nigger is a noun in the English language, most notable for its usage in a pejorative context to refer to black people , and also as an informal slang term, among other contexts. It is a common ethnic slur...

, with Randolph bellowing back kike
Kike
Kike is a derogatory slur used to refer to a Jew.-Etymology:The source of the term is uncertain. According to the Oxford English Dictionary, it may be an alteration of the endings –ki or –ky common in the personal names of Jews in eastern Europe who immigrated to the United States in the early...

. The conspiracy angle, if not successfully drawn up by the author (to the audience's satisfaction, at least), allows Mamet to, once again, return to his favorite device, the confidence game, at the film's conclusion, unleashing one final grand revelation.

Cast

  • Joe Mantegna
    Joe Mantegna
    Joseph Anthony "Joe" Mantegna, Jr. is an American actor, producer, writer,director, and voice actor. He is best known for his roles in box office hits such as Three Amigos , The Godfather Part III , Forget Paris , and Up Close & Personal...

     - Bobby Gold
  • William H. Macy
    William H. Macy
    William Hall Macy, Jr. is an American actor and writer. He was nominated for an Academy Award for his role as Jerry Lundegaard in Fargo. He is also a teacher and director in theater, film and television. His film career has been built mostly on his appearances in small, independent films, though...

     - Tim Sullivan
  • Vincent Guastaferro - Lt. Senna
  • J. J. Johnston
    J. J. Johnston
    J.J. Johnston is an American theatre and film actor and boxing historian and writer.-Books:Johnston, a former amateur boxer, is the author of several books on the history of boxing....

     - Jilly Curran
  • Jack Wallace
    Jack Wallace
    Jack Wallace was an American football player and coach in the United States. He served as the head football coach at Drake University from 1965 until 1976, compiling a record of 60–65–3....

     - Frank
  • Lionel Mark Smith
    Lionel Mark Smith
    Lionel Mark Smith was an American actor.He appeared in several movies including Homicide, Edmond, State and Main and Spartan. He also appeared on such television series as Seinfeld, NYPD Blue, Beverly Hills, 90210 and Hill Street Blues.His last appearance was in the 2007 horror film Stuck...

     - Charlie Olcott
  • Roberta Custer - Cathy Bates
  • Charles Stransky - Doug Brown
  • Bernard Gray - James
  • Paul Butler
    Paul Butler
    Paul Butler may refer to:* Paul Butler , actor in Crime Story * Paul Butler , Canadian artist* Paul Butler , British-born Canadian novelist...

     - Commissioner Walker
  • Colin Stinton
    Colin Stinton
    Colin Stinton is a Canadian-born actor who immigrated to the United States in 1952, and now lives in London. He often portrays fictional American politicians, lawyers and government agents. He recently played Neal Daniels in The Bourne Ultimatum...

     - Walter B. Wells
  • Louis Murray - Mr. Patterson
  • Christopher Kaldor - Desk Sergeant
  • Linda Kimbrough - Sgt. Green
  • Robin Spielberg
    Robin Spielberg
    Robin Spielberg is an American pianist who was born in New Jersey. Raised in the suburban town of Maplewood, she is a Columbia High School alumni. She attended Michigan State University and later Tisch School of the Arts at New York University where she graduated with high honors and a BFA in drama...

     - Records Officer

Home video releases

The film was released on VHS in 1992.

On September 8, 2009, the film was given a DVD release by The Criterion Collection
The Criterion Collection
The Criterion Collection is a video-distribution company selling "important classic and contemporary films" to film aficionados. The Criterion series is noted for helping to standardize the letterbox format for home video, bonus features, and special editions...

. This director-approved release included an audio commentary with Mamet and Macy, as well as cast interviews and a gag reel.
The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
x
OK