Homicide (1991 film)

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Homicide
Movie poster for Homicide
Directed by	David Mamet
Produced by	Michael Hausman Edward R. Pressman
Written by	David Mamet
Music by	Alaric Jans
Cinematography	Roger Deakins
Editing by	Barbara Tulliver
Distributed by	Triumph Releasing Corporation
Release date(s)	October 9, 1991 ((USA))
Running time	102 min.
Country	USA
Language	English
Allmovie profile
IMDb profile

Homicide is a crime drama written and directed by David Mamet, and released in 1991. The film's cast includes Joe Mantegna, William H. Macy, and Ving Rhames.

[edit] Plot

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. While en route to nab an accomplice of Randolph, Gold and his partner Sullivan (Macy) happen upon a murder scene: the elderly Jewish owner of a candy store in a black ghetto has been gunned down, presumably 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. Gold, however, seems to disregard his ethnicity, and beyond that, he's nonplussed 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, especially the verbiage among authority figures, where much is revealed through both soliloquy and invective. 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, 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, with Randolph bellowing back kike. 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.

Of note: Despite being shot in Baltimore, the film is not related to the long-running television series Homicide: Life on the Street.

[edit] External links

Homicide at the Internet Movie Database

v • d • e Films Directed by David Mamet

House of Games (1987) • Things Change (1988) • Homicide (1991) • Ricky Jay and His 52 Assistants (1996) • The Spanish Prisoner (1997) • The Winslow Boy (1999) • Catastrophe (2000) • State and Main (2000) • Heist (2001) • Spartan (2004) • Redbelt (2008) • Joan of Bark: The Dog that Saved France (2008)