MovieChat Forums > Edmond (2006) Discussion > What year does this take place?

What year does this take place?

posted 13 years ago by jamieleefan1
8 replies | jump to latest

I am confused as to what year it's supposed to be. It appears to be late '70s/early '80s New York. The 3-card monty games, Debi Mazar's outfit, the low price of the whores (not that I'd know heh heh) all confirm that but then there's a reference to ATMs and the hotel clerk is eating chicken wings. I could be wrong but calling a money access machine an ATM is something relatively new and I don't remember chicken wings being widely available for consumption back then. Again, I could be remembering wrong but those things kind of stuck out to me.

[–] ldealberti 13 years ago

To me it seems that the script was written in the 80's. Especially because of the whole dangerous downtown vibe to it and some of the characters he meets look straight out of a Starsky & Hutch episode.

The ATM and chicken wings? I guess when the script was finally filmed, small details were probably slightly updated but I don't think the story could have taken place nowadays

[–] Connecticut_Bob 13 years ago

The original Mamet play was produced in 1982, which probably explains quite a few of the anachronistic themes running through the movie. Upon first watching it, I assumed it was present day.

But after a while, especially with the depiction of the sleazy look of the Times Square area, I realized it was a reflection of the 1980s. You can't find all those peep shows and strip clubs around there anymore. And you stopped seeing those three-card monty scammers in NYC not long after Rudy Giuliani became mayor and began cracking down on many "quality of life" violations.

Which generally was a good thing. I gotta say I wasn't at all sad to see the squeegee bums disappear from every bridge off-ramp into Manhattan.

See my IMDb listing here: http://www.imdb.com/name/nm2482070

[–] dcw-12 13 years ago

Keeping up appearances is worth suspending freedom for eh? The Founding Fathers would wonder why the hell they bothered to fight and die for freedom if we're using that freedom to attack the most sad and weakest among us.
New Yorkers need to see 1,000,000 hobos a day until they are able to look past that and see the person behind that facade.

[–] Connecticut_Bob 13 years ago

Sure, nobody wants to suspend anyone's freedom...until you're stuck at a traffic light with your family in the car, and a filthy drunken hobo starts screaming obscenities at you until you slip a dollar out the window. You can have your million hobo march, dcw-12. Me, I'm glad Giuliani cleaned up that sh!t.

See my IMDb listing here: http://www.imdb.com/name/nm2482070

[–] TerrorDementia 13 years ago

Giuliani? Mr. Noun, Verb, Ruined NYC, 9/11.

To hell with that scumbag.

[–] BarrettwLyle 13 years ago

good reason to think it takes place in the 80's given the style of dress and interior decoration but the setting appears to be los angeles, given shots of the skyline whether it's supposed to take place in los angeles or not I'm not sure

[–] ThereWillBeBeer 13 years ago

Yeah I thought it was L.A. too, especially with the Baptist church, holding services in the wee hours of the morning with the front door wide open.

[–] davidemistero 10 years ago

don't you use the word ATM anymore in usa??
sorry stupid curiosity but 'im curious :)