Glengarry Glen Ross (1992)

Starring: Jack Lemmon, Al Pacino, Ed Harris, Kevin Spacey, Alan Arkin, Jonathan Pryce and Alec Baldwin

Director: James Foley

The Low Down: Shelley Levene (Lemmon), Dave Moss (Harris), George Aranow (Arkin) and Ricky Roma (Pacino, in an Oscar nominated role) are salesmen at real estate firm. With the exception of Ricky, sales have been low as of late and one night a hotshot executive (Alec Baldwin) initiates a sales contest with one catch: the winner gets a Cadillac along with a set of prime sales leads, the salesman in last place loses their job. Based on a Pulitzer winning play, the film chronicles the actions of the salesmen over the next several hours into the next morning.Kevin Spacey costars as Williamson, the office manager who all four salesman passionately dislike.

The Good: As with most play to film adaptations the quality of Glengarry Glen Ross is dependent on how good the dialogue is, and the cast selected to bring that dialogue to life on the silver screen. Usually, if the play is being adapted in the first place chances are the dialogue is somewhat worthwhile. In the case of Glengarry Glen Ross, calling the dialogue somewhat worthwhile is the understatement of the year. David Mamet's (who adapted his own play) dialogue perfectly embodies the fears and desperation of men who have essentially been pushed into a corner and turned into savage animals by the American dream. Yet despite all the awful things these characters say and sometimes do in their moments of desperation, Mamet still manages to make most of them sympathetic guys you could see yourself being friends with.

Casting however, tends to be a bit more of a wild card in these cases. Luckily, reading the cast list is akin to reading a list of who's who in great acting and includes some of the best actors of the past 25 years. As such the film is one of those ensemble pieces where it would almost feel like a sin to single out anybody over anybody else. Unfortunately, I'm feeling a bit sinful today and for the sake of brevity I'll simply say Ed Harris, Alan Arkin and Kevin Spacey all play their parts to perfection and deserve analysis themselves but then this review would turn into a novel. First of all there's Al Pacino,  back when he could give an A plus performance in his sleep, carefully juggling the charisma and sleaziness that makes Ricky Roma so memorable. He embodies the sort of salesman you want to get away from as quickly as possible because you know the longer you stay the more likely it is he'll charm you into buying something you can't possibly afford. On the other side of the spectrum is Alec Baldwin in a one scene role, not in the original play and  added to the film specifically for him; as Blake, a wealthy company executive sent to motivate the salesmen, Baldwin gives a performance full of anger and capably spouts the sort of bile that would put the fear of God in anyone and make them fear for their jobs. Anybody whose ever had to deal with an angry boss will know the sort of person I'm talking about. As I said, Baldwin's only in one scene but it's a turning point that sets the tone for the rest of the movie and it makes an impression for sure.

The film however, belongs to Jack Lemmon's sad, sympathetic and ultimately tragic performance that drives the story. His performance as Shelley is the heart to the rest of the casts frenetic nervous system. Simply put, without him the film would be a violently flailing shell without any real life. Shelley does embody some of the sleazy salesmanship tactics that are at work in some of the other characters, but with Lemmon's sad and world weary performance its hard to not like Shelley even after some of the depths he sinks to before the film's conclusion. It's easily the most incredible performance in a movie full of them and one of Jack Lemmon's best.

The Bad: As is the case with some stage to screen adaptations there are a couple scenes that lack interesting visuals but these moments are few and far between thanks to scenes with great lighting and ominous rainfall in the film's first half.

Best Line: "Fuck you! That's my name! You know why mister? You drove a Hyundai to get here. I drove an eighty thousand dollar BMW. THAT'S my name!"

In Short: Glengarry Glen Ross is a must see for fans of anyone in its cast and dialogue driven flicks that are overflowing with the sort of stuff that great movie quotes are made of. Its subject matter might be less than pleasant, but in these hard economic times where the threat of unemployment looms it's the sort of movie that any person at the bottom level of a company can relate to.

10 out of 10