A movie based upon the play, starring William H. Macy and Julia Stiles, has been shown at some film festivals in the U.S. and Europe, and underwent limited U.S. release on July 14, 2006.
The plot, which has a certain fable-like quality, revolves around the titular character, Edmond Burke, a white-collar worker in New York City.
After a visit to a fortune teller, he decides to leave his wife and embarks on an odyssey through New York's seedy underbelly, which takes him to two bars, a bordello, and a peep show.
Increasingly convinced of the ugliness and difficulty of human existence, Edmond buys a knife from a pawnshop.
He threatens a woman on a subway platform, then beats an African-American pimp who is trying to rob him, while calling him racial slurs.
Despite its critical praise, the racial content of the play, particularly the numerous slurs against African-Americans, has caused controversy at colleges and universities attempting to stage it.