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Glengarry Glen Ross (1992)
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Movie Review by Jarrod
November 27th, 2007
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'Glengarry Glen Ross' features some of David Mamet's best writing, and that is in spite of the fact that he employs a lot of jargon, from the world of real estate, as his characters discuss the importance of closing, and leads, and suggesting investment strategies to their clients, but beneath all of this lies dialogue that is compelling, smart, exciting, and fierce in its frequent use of profanity, to underline feelings of desperation and anger, as frustrated salesmen contend with a decision by the higher-ups to award them new leads, which are guaranteed to sell, but only if they can get rid of the ones they have already been assigned, ones that are old, or have been used several times already. Sheldon Levene (Lemmon), once known as the Machine, because of his remarkable sales record, is now in a rut, along with Dave Moss (Harris) and George Aaronow (Arkin). Ricky Roma (Pacino), a protege of Levene's, is on a hot streak.
A charismatic and persuasive conversationalist, Roma seals a major deal with James Lingk (Jonathan Pryce), a man he chats up in the bar. The others, especially Moss, are resentful of Roma's success, and all despise office manager John Williamson (Spacey), who endures more verbal abuse than one could imagine, yet refuses to cave in to pressure, guarding the new leads, and making accommodations when he can, but his own job is on the line, and he has to listen to his superiors. Williamson is not particularly cheerful or friendly, but he is under a lot of stress, and not being able to spend much time with his family. A robbery occurs, and the new leads are stolen. Williamson and the cops try to figure out who did it. We already know, or think we do, but we only hear about the robbery and never actually see it. There is an element of suspense here, but this, at heart, a superb drama, which Mamet adapted from his own acclaimed play.
Jack Lemmon gives one of his best performances, strangely not nominated for an Oscar, this role is much better than the one in Save the Tiger, which earned him an Oscar in 1974. He also won for Mister Roberts in 1956. Lemmon is but one member of the amazing ensemble cast, and arguably its strongest asset, but then Pacino, Harris, Arkin, and Spacey are also excellent, as is Alec Baldwin, as Blake, a bigwig who comes to tell the men about the new leads and how they can get them, and his blistering lecture about how pathetic they are, and how rich and important he is, is a highlight. Brilliant.
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 | Andy
Nov 27, 2007 3:28 PM
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| I don't know if there's another movie that has great performances from every cast member like this one. Everyone in this is amazing. Maybe Who's Afraid of Virgina Woolf? comes close. |
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