CASTING RAISES QUESTIONS IN VIOLENT `EDMOND'.

Byline: Bob Strauss Film Critic

David Mamet's nastiest play, ``Edmond,'' has finally been made into a movie. While all involved deserve credit for getting even limited financing to film such an off-putting work, they've mainly just proven that some things are better left on the stage.

If even that. For all its fire-breathing perversity, ``Ed- mond'' isn't very convincing. And that's not in the way that Mamet's scam pieces, like ``House of Games'' or ``The Spanish Prisoner,'' may or may not delude you with its con until the desired moment of revelation. No, it's just hard to buy, well, Edmond.

Maybe the casting has something to do with that (but only something; the real problems are in the writing). William H. Macy, a fantastic actor and longtime theatrical compadre of the playwright's, reportedly has never played Edmond live. In the film, he attacks the role with all the vigor, prowess, intelligence and craft he has to give, and that's plenty. But how old is Macy? Late 40s? Mid-50s? To imagine this character at any age much past 25 is to judge him as an utter nincompoop about his own self.

Edmond, you see, is a prosperous, middle-class city dweller who one night all of a sudden decides he hates his wife, becomes a racist and a homophobe, and hurts some people real bad.

This is either the result of an impromptu stop at a tarot card den on the way home from the office or being informed by his spouse (Rebecca Pidgeon, better in only two scenes here than she's been in all the other movies Mamet --her husband -- has written) that the maid broke a lamp.

Either way, it's ridiculous that either event would trigger such deep-down personality changes in anyone Macy's age. If he was at all inclined that way, you'd think he might have used a racial epithet or paid for sex at some point earlier in life. But as Edmond navigates his odyssey through the night bowels of the city, his naivet(hrt) feels at least as artificial as the pseudo-philosophical babble Mamet puts in his mouth.

And yes, I get it. Edmond is supposed to be going crazy. And he probably shouldn't even be thought of as a real person, but rather a manifestation of all the suppressed hatred and violence civilized American white guys must carry around inside them. How could I not understand this? It's overdetermined enough to make Ibsen look subtle.

And maybe it works in some live productions -- but with a specious central theme like ``every fear hides a wish'' powering ``Edmond's'' punishing internal logic, I kind of doubt it.

But even second-rate Mamet gives actors a lot to chomp on, and an almost consistently terrific cast really goes to town in the film.

Another of the playwright's longtime collaborators, Joe Mantegna, delivers a near-perfect bar speech that inspires Edmond to hunt down his demons. Among the sex workers he briefly encounters, B-girl Denise Richards and prostitute Mena Suvari deliver more than we usually expect of them, and Bai Ling, as a glass booth stripper, wittily registers considerably more than that.

Lionel Mark Smith and Bokeem Woodbine stand out among the African-Americans Edmond has alarming encounters with.

But Julia Stiles has a tough time as Edmond's saddest erotic partner. Not her fault, really; I don't know if any actress could do very well with a jumpin'-all-over-creation scene that's woefully underwritten for her and way overcooked for him.

The film's director, Stuart Gordon, staged the world premiere of Mamet's breakout play, ``Sexual Perversity in Chicago.'' He's clearly in tune with the writer's language, rhythms and obsessions, and certainly presents a persuasive vision of urban dementia here (horror fans won't be surprised; Gordon helmed the madly brilliant ``Re-Animator''). I can only believe that Gordon got everything he possibly could have out of ``Edmond.'' But that's not enough to repair the parts that just don't work.

Bob Strauss, [phone]

bob.strauss(at)dailynews.com

EDMOND - Two and one half stars

(R: violence, nudity, language, racism)

Starring: William H. Macy, Julia Stiles, Joe Mantegna, Rebecca Pidgeon, Bokeem Woodbine, Bai Ling, Mena Suvari.

Director: Stuart Gordon.

Running time: 1 hr. 22 min.

Playing: Laemmle One Colorado, Pasadena; Laemmle Sunset 5, West Hollywood.

In a nutshell: This scathing David Mamet play adaptation about a white-collar gent indulging his darkest sexual, racist and violent impulses has an arbitrary feel that isn't helped by some of his least-natural dialogue. Macy acts the hell out of it, though, and some scenes still shock.