Review of Homicide: The Movie (2000) by Al M — 16 Dec 2009

Mamet's Homicide is true gem, a film that I was not expecting but that blew my mind. Hilarious, existential, clever, and bad-ass, Homicide is police procedural/existential drama that explores the nature of identity and questions whether we can ever truly know ourselves.

Joe Mantegna's detective has defined himself as hard-boiled cop (someone out of a film noir police drama) in order to oppose the stereotypes of Jews as a cowardly, selfish people. Hence, during a raid, he is always the first officer through the door.

But, after stumbling upon a case involving the murder of Jewish shop-owner with ties to Jewish revolutionaries both in Palestine/Israel and in the United States, he begins to desire an alignment with this identity that he has always shunned.

But ultimately Mamet's film demonstrates the manner in which ethnic categories or any socio-cultural division can never truly provide a foundation for our identities. Mamet's film argues that we must learn to create those identities on our own in the face of world that is probably meaningless and cruel.

It is a bleak but funny and riveting film with stellar performances from its cast and a blistering script from Mamet.A profound exploration of race as well as a philosophical inquiry into the nature of the self, Mamet's Homicide is action film/cop drama that proves what the genre is capable of.