Rating: 
Summary: Ten Years On.....and it is still a masterpiece
Review: 1992 was quite a year. We had Unforgiven, Bram Stoker's Dracula, A Few Good Men, Of Mice and Men (starring Sinise and Malkovitch), the director's cut of Blade Runner, and some other good films such as Sneakers, Raising Cain, and Scent of a Woman. All of them are on DVD except for this film. I really can't add much to the outstanding reviews that are already posted here. This film, among with 12 Angry Men, stands as the best adaptation of a stage play to the big screen. If and when a DVD is released, I hope that it includes the audio commentary recorded by Al Pacino and Jack Lemmon for the special edition Laserdisc release in 1994 (anyone who has that by the way is holding a treasure!). It's only a matter of time before this is released on DVD. This October (2002) is the tenth anniversary, and that would be the perfect time, assuming the legal hurdles have been taken care of. Let's keep our fingers crossed!
Rating:
Summary: Salesmen caught in Mamet's maw
Review: I had a dream once: Felix Unger, Michael Corleone, Jackson Pollock (or was it John Glenn?), and John Yossarian were having dinner. They talked in clipped, staccato, very stylish tones, swearing constantly while oozing testosterone. Jack Ryan (I) was the maitre d', and Verbal Kint was the waiter. Sam Lowry dropped by for a drink once the meal was over. It was fascinating and thought-provoking, the very best of men being men, in a John Wayne not an Iron John sense. And when I woke up, I wanted to watch some more.'Twas a desire easily remedied. I took an hour and forty minutes of David Mamet's "Glengarry Glen Ross". And what does one find there? A symphony of things we don't see, but that have terrible power over the characters: "downtown", Mitch & Murray, Shelly's daughter, Jerry Graf, and of course, the prized Glengarry leads. I can't remember a film with a more impressive array of memorable MacGuffins (Mamet is a fan of this particular Hitchcockian technique; see his "The Spanish Prisoner" for more). None of these items are essential to the plot, except that they exist for the sole purpose of tormenting the salesmen. And who do we have playing said salesmen? Arguably the greatest collection of male actors in the last quarter century. All, without exception, are at the top of their respective games, delivering Mamet's trademark rat-a-tat dialogue with verve and style to spare. Jack Lemmon is, to me, the best of the best here. I don't usually warm to Lemmon's schlubby shtick, but here he is imminently watchable while being terribly sad. His voice is the key to the performance, as it works back and forth between dulcet salesman tones and a deeply pathetic timbre. Lemmon was 68 when this movie was made, almost ten year older than anyone else in the cast. But I'd put his energy and bravado up against any of them. Even against Al Pacino, who scenery chews here like only Pacino can. Except it's not the over-the-top mugging that I found so distasteful in "Any Given Sunday" or "Scent of a Woman". On the other hand, it not the awe-inspiring quiet work of "The Godfather" or "Donnie Brasco". Instead, Pacino gives the audience a controlled charismatic animal found somewhere in between. Ed Harris, who usually portrays strong and in-control leaders, here plays a man trying to appear strong and in-control. But his David Moss is just a whiny little boy at heart, and Harris shows Moss' quick temper and immaturity well, while also showing his wicked mind. Alan Arkin's character is, of the four main salesmen, the biggest loser. And Arkin brings the pathos forward with such an easy, subtle style, you'd be hard-pressed to catch him working. Alec Baldwin, whom I've never really appreciated, gets to play a very small but broad role. He digs his teeth into it and never lets go. He's only on screen for a couple of minutes near the beginning, but he casts a heavy pall over the rest of the film. And Kevin Spacey, who's done increasingly banal work as he's become more famous, was an unknown at the time. Thrown in to the pit with these heavyweights, and given the most thankless role in the film, he scores on all counts. You'll find yourself hating his character, a by-the-book office manager, but you'll sure appreciate Spacey's work in the role. And lastly, Jonathan Pryce is heartbreaking as a prospective client of Pacino's character. He doesn't talk throughout the movie's first half, but when he comes back and opens his mouth, he's heartbreakingly pitiable Like Pryce's character, whenever anyone else who doesn't work in the office speaks (Mr. Spannel, the cop) Mamet abandons his trademark rhythms for a more realistic sound. This produces a startling effect, in that it widens the gap between the artificial world of the salesmen and the real world. Director James Foley furthers this rhetorical device with his visual choices. See the faux-reality of the first shot, in the Chinese restaurant's phone booth, which is marked by a harsh red backdrop, fierce lighting and deep shadows. This tone is maintained, if not visually then at least in a myriad of other ways, when the boys get back to the office. Seemingly a very cold and dry place, the office is brought alive by the action (action, that is, in conversation) that takes place there. It becomes a purgatory on earth for some of these men; for others, it is pure hell. Armed with only that knowledge that he's helmed two Mark Wahlberg films, I wondered, "how did James Foley get this job?" But further perusal of his filmmography reveals that he's worked well with Sean Penn, Chris Walken, Gene Hackman, Aidan Quinn, and, well, Madonna (the exception that proves the rule). He sometimes intrudes on the scene by whipping about with some overly stylish camera moves. But more often than not he is restrained and effective with his camera, capturing, at just the right moment, the tension on the actor's faces. Jack Lemmon has a particularly wonderful moment of anguish, shot in extreme and heartbreaking close-up. Every line on his face speaks volumes to the camera. "Glengarry Glen Ross" is a film of no-action. Between the night before and the morning after occurs a robbery that spins the story towards a gripping climax. But we never see the robbery. And come to think of it, we never see the resolution of the climax. What we do see, or rather hear, is a stunning collection of speeches, dialogues, conversations, and sermons, about what it means to be a salesman in a man's world. The conclusion: if yours aren't brass, don't bother getting up in the morning.
Rating:
Summary: Magnificient performances: "Close or else!"
Review: I like watching David Mamet films. However, I think the uncritical adoration his films often receive are usually a bit over the top. Many of his films collapse into a state of over-baked, preposterous, and unentertaining fiascoes that many people laud because they feel like the SHOULD laud them. One is not less smart for calling a dud a dud. The recent THE SPANISH PRISONER is a great example. HOUSE OF GAMES is another watchable, yet overrated film that is heaped with ejaculations of praise. On the other hand, we have GLENGARRY GLEN ROSS. This is one of those movies where I begin to appreciate it more thinking about it afterward. A converted play, and a very obviously converted play, the movie is a tremendous work of fantastic actors playing their hearts out with words that show violence can be as much linguistic as it is active. Jack Lemmon gives easily the greatest performance of his life in this movie. I've always had lukewarm feelings about Jack Lemmon's acting, thinking him typecasted into the neurotic goonball Felix roles from the hysterical ODD COUPLE. The remake of 12 ANGRY MEN wasn't so bad, but I couldn't help comparing him to Henry Fonda. The embarrassingly bad confirmation of my tepid feelings was his hapless rendition of Marcellus in Branagh's HAMLET. In GLENGARRY, Jack Lemmon is simply amazing as Shelly. The terror of being unable to do his job, of the frustration of self-bout, and the fear for his daughter are all played out perfectly. Needing to do a job that requires confidence in order to gain his confidence, but not having the confidence to his job was an excruciating dilemma. The emasculating circumstances, and Lemmon's acting out the discomfiting emotions is worth seeing. Al Pacino is also outstanding as Ricky Roma. Ed Harris, the manipulative, yet shallow Dave Moss was also excellent. Harris' portrayal of the angry, near-breakdown of him in his dialogue with Pacino and Lemmon certainly shows what a great actor he is. Kevin Spacey --the Enemy-- as the manager was also outstanding; the guy who was everybody's enemy, yet had to run an office that relied on battle and struggle, not cooperation. But Alec Baldwin is amazing as the "guy from the home office" who chews everyone out. All of the characters are attacked not just professionally, but their masculinity is attacked as well, and the rest of the movie really hinges on that insecurity.
Rating:
Summary: Stand Out Performances From Everyone Involved
Review: Not often does the viewer get the opptiunity to see such a powerful film with the best acting talent a great character study
with intense dialouge based on a prize winning play who can
ever forget the soon to be classic "GLENGARRY GLEN ROSS" From
the creative Mind of David Mamet. Al Pacino Jack Lemmon Ed Harris Alan Arkin Kevin Spacey All shine in this story about a bunch of desperate Real Estate salesmen sink to varrining ways of decit trying to sell off Florida Properties. Lemmon Harris Arkin are going through hard times with the exception of Pacino
the only salesman who is on a "Hotstreak" which sets the tone
personal rivarly Things gets worse when the front office sends
a younger mean ambitous sales motivator(Alec Baldwin In a Ten to
Twelve Minuite Role who rips a hole in the prides of these Salesman down on their luck. He introuduces them to a Sales Contest 1st prize "Win A Cadailac"
2nd prize "Win A Pair Of Steak Knives"
3rd prize "You're Fired"
Now being presented with this one of the desperate takes it into
their own hands to rob the office and steal the good leads and
keep their jobs but at a high price that can't be paid. Brillantly written word for word just like the play giving Pacino
Harris and especally Lemmon the best roles of their carrers.
Anyone who has ever worked in the dog eat dog world of sales
knows that this film shows exactly how cold the workforce can
really be.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent
Review: Truly a connisseur's offering, the unbeatable acting be all the cast will take your breath away. You need to watch it more than once to understand fully the actions involved. Probably one of the best films about working life that has been ever made. Dont waste time reading reviews, just go watch.
Rating:
Summary: Simply, The Best
Review: If you want to take a look at the darker side of selling, there is no better movie. Forget Glengarry clones like "Boiler Room", this is the one. Wonderful!
Rating:
Summary: Lemmon and Harris. Wow!
Review: Glengarry Glen Ross is a flawless film adaptation of Mamet's pulitzer winning play. The characters in this film are drawn with a lightning bolt, each one his own man. Ed Harris and Jack Lemmon are absolutely riveting. Much has been said about Lemmon's performance and it seems like Harris's Moss is often overlooked. These are my two favorite actors and if you watch the subtle expressions on Ed Harris's face as he gets screamed at by Alec Baldwin you'll know what I mean. Lemmon is pathetic as the "machine" in a performance that deserved more recognition as well. I hate to single out these two in such a wonderful cast but they're just too good. Pacino gives a flashier performance which was good, maybe too flashy in some areas. The other actors, Arkin, Spacey, Price, deliver but aren't in the same league as the above three. I find myself talking about performances but it's difficult not to when the writing and acting are this superb. Watch this movie. It is truely one of the great films of the past decade.
Rating:
Summary: Amazing dialogue, poetic profanity, great performances
Review: Mamet is a truely great writer and this film would be little more than an overwrough insight into the extreme pressures forced upon salesmen that make for their desperately, unrelentless sales pitches, if it weren't for the fact that every time someone speaks we are blessed with a genius' voice.
The film shows real estate sales men, Jack Lemmon, Al Pacino, Ed Harris and Johnathon Pryce being told that unless their sales pick up they're fired. The only problem is that boss Kevin Spacey will only give new, Glengarly Glen Ross leads to sellers.
Jack Lemmon is magnificent as the washed up leader of sales and Pacino is even better as the current leader. Well, to cut a long story short, every one in this movie is great. Each character is given such abrasive dialogue, spiked with humour and malice and self-pittying desperatioin.
My favourite scene is when Harris talks to Johnathon Pryce about steeling the leads. It's the best moment in a great film. Although the characters are profane in their speech, the screenplay is of such quality that it comes of damned close to poetic. I like occasionally to find a film that is completely dialogue driven and this one is probably among, if not the, best.
i would definitely recommend buying as it can be seen over and over before evrything is absorbed.
Rating:
Summary: Put that coffee down!
Review: Just the dialogue alone makes this one of the best movies and my personal favorite. I could go on forever, reciting the usual quotes and of course the recent Boiler Room paid homage to this masterpiece. Mamet's play is truly a work of art. Nothing less. You have to see it more than once to really appreciate everything that is happening. The five star cast put out performances of a lifetime here. So buy it, don't rent it..buy the VHS, then buy the DVD when they get their act together and release it! Hey studio, Get the DVD out already!
Rating:
Summary: High Powered, Big Ticket Drama
Review: Those who must rely on their wits to make a living are often prone to desperate measures born of the insecurities inherent in their field of endeavor-- a straight commission salesman, for example; or in this instance, a real estate salesman, in particular. And under pressure, to what will one in such a position resort to stay afloat when times are tough? A legitimate question that every consumer would no doubt like to have answered before signing the dotted line and committing some big money to a purchase. Well, hold tight, because help is on the way, as writer/director David Mamet goes to great lengths to answer it in "Glengarry Glen Ross," an unflinching, hard-edged film that examines the motivations of those who would readily and eagerly separate you from more than a few of your hard earned dollars, and whose least concern, apparently, is the value of their product or that parcel of land, which according to them is situated just this side of Shangri-la. And if you've ever trusted a big-ticket salesman in your life, after visiting Mamet's film, it's doubtful you ever will again. Very simply, the story is this: The Company wants results; the hierarchy expects their salesmen to produce, and they don't care how. Toward that end, a "motivator" (Alec Baldwin), has been dispatched to this particular office to put things into perspective for those who would sell their wares, as it were. The deal is, that at the end of a given period of time, the salesman whose name is at the top of the tote board will get a new car; those who fail to meet their quota are out the door. End of story. They will, however, be supplied with "leads," but from the "old" file. The new, "fresh" leads are reserved for those who first prove themselves worthy, those who can do whatever it takes to make the sale, without qualm, reservation or conscience. But the prospect of being put on the street in the wake of the give-no-quarter edict only serves to drive one amongst them to an act of desperation-- an irrational act from which there can be no forgiveness and no redemption. A tough verdict, but then again, nobody said life was going to be easy. In adapting his own play for the screen, Mamet returns to one of his favorite themes by exploring yet another variation of the "con" forever being perpetrated somewhere, on someone, in one way or another. In Mamet's world (in films such as "House of Games" and the more recent "Heist") nothing is ever as it seems, and the confidence game is always afoot, the causes and effects of which make up the drama of his stories. And this film is no exception. Whether it's the smooth and savvy top-dog of the office, Ricky Roma (Al Pacino), schmoozing a client into handing over a check, or a veteran loser like Shelley Levene (Jack Lemmon) showing up at someone's door on a cold call at a most inopportune and inconvenient moment and refusing to leave, Mamet convincingly maintains that the con-is-always-on, and the result-- especially in this film-- is a bleak, but riveting commentary on the human condition, delivered with an intensity that will keep you on the very edge of your emotional seat right up to the end. The cast Mamet assembled for this offering is superb: Al Pacino is in top form and extremely effective with a comparatively tempered performance; the scene in which he lulls his customer (played by Jonathan Pryce) into complacency is absolutely hypnotic. This is the salesman you hope you never encounter, especially if something like the Brooklyn Bridge is being offered, as such overtures as those proffered by Ricky Roma are just too hard to refuse. And Pacino not only sells it, he closes the deal, as well. Ed Harris, as Dave Moss, is outstanding, also, creating a character whose bitterness seems to flow from the inside out, and has long since overwhelmed that ability and better part of himself that could've made him a successful salesman, had he but turned his energies to more positive concerns and away from the self-defeating, self-pity into which he has descended. While at the opposite end of the spectrum is George, played by Alan Arkin, who unlike Dave (who though unable to act upon it, at least had promise at some point in his career) has nothing but insecurity and empty dreams to sustain him. As wonderfully realized by Arkin, he's the proverbial duck-out-of-water, who belongs anywhere except in a job as a salesman. The best performance of all, however, is turned in by Jack Lemmon, who in Shelley Levene creates a character so steeped in despair and hopelessness that's it's almost tangible. You have but to look into Lemmon's eyes to understand the turmoil and depth of Shelley's desperation, and Lemmon successfully conveys the complexities of this man in terms that are believable and incredibly real. He makes Shelley a guy you can feel for without necessarily sympathizing with him. It's simply a terrific piece of work by a terrific actor. Another of the film's strengths is the performance by Kevin Spacey, as John Williamson, the office manager. It's an understated, but pivotal role, and Spacey does a good job of making it convincing, which ultimately heightens the overall impact of the film, especially the climax. The supporting cast includes Bruce Altman (Mr. Spannel), Jude Ciccoledda (Detective) and Paul Butler (Policeman). Mamet builds and sustains a tension throughout this film that drives the anxiety level through the roof; at times, it's exhausting to watch. In the end, however, "Glengarry Glen Ross" is a satisfying experience, involving very real situations with which many in the audience will be able to relate, and delivered with a high-powered energy equal to the subject matter. And once you catch your breath, it's one you're going to appreciate even more. It's the magic of the movies.
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