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Tough times call for tough people - Glengarry Glen Ross
Movie guru, movie connoisseur, Fan of Superb Productions, Lover of quirky, unique films, cult film connoisseur, fan of clever plots, admirer of great storytelling
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| Cons |
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AUG
27
2008
This is the famous David Mamet play that most salesmen revere.
Alfred Hitchcock introduced the McGuffin - an insignificant thing that the plot of a film was built around. In Psycho, for example, the theft of $40,000 is parlayed into a good 45 minutes of film only to dissolve into a horrifying shower scene from which events rapidly descend, the $40,000 never playing a major role in the story again.
Playwright David Mamet followed Hitchcock’s lead when he wrote his story Glengarry Glen Ross, which concerns itself with the threat of being fired during a business slump (the McGuffin) from a high pressure real estate office selling swamp land in Florida. From this insignificant beginning springs a whole fountainhead of human emotions as the various salesmen react to the double whammy of the threat of being fired if they “don’t produce” and the hope of obtaining the new lead cards - the Glengarry leads, that they wish will bring them out of the sales doldrums.
Alec Baldwin gets his best screen moment with a bravura performance that singes the screen; a big wheel from the downtown office, he gives the salesmen a profane pep talk that ends with the dire announcement that the two bottom men on the sales report will be fired at the end of the month. This takes the salesmen aback as there are only FOUR of them to begin with - Jack Lemmon, Al Pacino, Ed Harris, and Alan Arkin. “Always Be Closing“, is the cocksure Baldwin’s parting shot to the shell shocked drummers.
Glengarry Glen Ross is an actor’s movie. It is all about the actors and their various interactions rather than the story, which is fairly weak. But what the actors do with it is pure entertainment, albeit uncomfortable at times!
Mamet has an ear for dialog; that is, he goes for the SOUND of the words rather than the meanings. The dialog therefore often lacks sense but is emotionally charged, rhythmic, and at times melodic. It also contains more profanity per line than a drill sergeant's tirade, so the kiddies should not be invited! I think it would have been a better story had Mamet focused on both sound and meaning, but that’s my view.
The oily office manager is captured dead on by Kevin Spacey, before he was known. He has not produced at anything near this level since, in my opinion. The salesmen are reduced to clawing and scratching to make their way to the top of the dung heap of their profession. Venal and craven behavior seems to be their specialty.
Jack Lemmon is simply brilliant in one of his last performances as the aging Shelly Lavene. Besides being low man on the sales totem pole, his daughter is in the hospital and he doesn’t know how he’s going to pay the bill! It is just engrossing to watch the pluck and despair alternately displayed by this tortured character. Al Pacino, the biggest name in the production, is not in the same league as Jack Lemmon as an actor, anybody who sees this will agree.
Al is a method actor and with proper direction, he can be brilliant, but too often he is left to his own devices where he becomes boisterous, brash, and preachy. Pacino's overacting and pedantic line delivery here is over the top, even for a play, and reminiscent of his character in too many films. I am not saying his performance is bad, but he had a lot of competition here from his fellow actors and was not able to dominate the screen like he does in his best work. Ed Harris, for another, is one of the most underrated actors working today and deserves big applause for the scheming, loudmouthed characterization he did here, while Alan Arkin (also typically underrated) is brilliant as the bewildered, bickering, and self-doubt ridden schmoe he plays in Glengarry Glen Ross.
James Foley directed Glengarry Glen Ross and did a marvelous job of coaxing the best out of his cast, well, all except Al Pacino. But he got career bests out of Kevin Spacey, Alec Baldwin, and probably Jack Lemmon also. There are not many scene changes, the play is dialog driven but Foley floods his scenes with primary colored light and makes a very powerful visual statement with his choices. Look at the opening scene with Jack Lemmon in a red lit phone booth in the Chinese restaurant for an example.
I know plays are not for everybody, but if you are up for a good play and do not mind a strong dose of desperation salted by vast amounts of profanity, Glengarry Glen Ross would be a good choice for you, particularly those of you involved in direct sales.
The Artisan DVD is presented in a deluxe 2-disc set containing both widescreen and full screen versions of the film and a host of special features including an informative commentary by Director James Foley, several featurettes, and a tribute to the late Jack Lemmon.
Last edited on Oct 25, 2008
Glengarry Glen Ross is recommended by GeorgeChabot |
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