Review: Glengarry Glen Ross

A film about a group of increasingly desperate New York real estate salesmen paid a visit by a heartless, insulting suit (Alec Baldwin) hired by the owners to give the salesmen a pep talk. There is a monthly contest where the third prize is unemployment. The top two sellers of the month will get access to the ‘Glengarry leads’, i.e. the best ones. But to get to that, they must sell as much to the far lesser leads handed out by their heartless manager (Kevin Spacey). Things don’t look good, especially for veteran salesman Shelley (Gil Gunderson...er...Jack Lemmon), who is in a long-running slump, and has a sick daughter. His pleas to Spacey to hand him some of the good leads fall on deaf ears. Things are going better for hot-shot Roma (Al Pacino), however, and he is currently trying to woo meek Jonathan Pryce. Meanwhile, embittered Dave Moss (Ed Harris) and his offsider George Aaronow (Alan Arkin) are planning on sticking it to the company by stealing the Glengarry leads and selling them to a competitor.

This “Wall Street” for losers was just about the swearin’-est movie of 1992, wasn’t it? Directed by James Foley (“At Close Range”, “Confidence”) and scripted by David Mamet (“The Postman Always Rings Twice”, “The Verdict”, “The Untouchables”) from his own play, this predictably stagey, but otherwise brilliantly acted ensemble piece is strong enough to make you forget for the most part you’re watching a filmed play, essentially. It doesn’t surprise me that some of these guys turned up on their off days just to watch the other actors, because this is some pretty top-drawer talent on display here. Only Jonathan Pryce misses out in a rather dud role. Still, it boggles my mind that the only acting Oscar nomination in the film went to Al Pacino. He’s perfectly fine, but not really among the standouts.

The standouts in the cast for me are Kevin Spacey (in his usual a-hole boss role, but probably the first such incarnation), and especially Alec Baldwin and Jack Lemmon, but no one’s really a dud here. Spacey, Baldwin (in a role not found in the original play), and Ed Harris get most of the showboating moments of the film, whilst Lemmon is the one who tugs at the heartstrings. In fact, in his scenes with Spacey, Lemmon’s authentic and sympathetic showing of frustration and desperation make sure that Spacey doesn’t steal their scenes (I’ll just say it right here. Lemmon was flat-out robbed of an Oscar nomination and win for this). Alec Baldwin unquestionably steals his one scene, however. He gives a riveting, rather frightening speech that commands your attention (‘Fuck you. That’s my name!’), and might represent the best work Baldwin has ever done (BTW, Ben Affleck’s highly amusing cameo in the similar “Boiler Room” is essentially a riff on this character and performance). It’s so unbelievably venomous, it might just singe your eyebrows off.

With Spacey, you can tell that he has approached his role as though he’s not the bad guy. He has a job to do, a family to support, so why should he risk all that just to be a nice guy? Given what some of his salesmen get up to (including even Lemmon), you could argue that they’re worse than he is. He’d certainly argue that. That said, he does prove to be an absolutely petty piece of shit, except in his scenes with Pacino, who is the one character who won’t take any of Spacey’s shit, despite being in no better position of power than the other salesmen. It’s a crucial scene when you consider a later scene between Lemmon and Spacey where Lemmon gloats big-time and gives it to Spacey, after finally closing a lead. Spacey, clever and petty bastard he is, knows (as does the audience, likely) it’s one small victory for Lemmon, soon to be followed by another rough patch. Spacey also gets one unforgettable exchange with Alan Arkin, who quite simply Will. Not. Go. To. Lunch. It’s not a great role for Arkin, but his best scenes are actually the ones without Harris. Otherwise he’s essentially playing a meek, naive sycophant who just repeats everything Harris says and goes along with it. Harris is convincing as the shonky salesman who actually has some legit grievances towards the higher-ups, but who then goes and does something completely wrong that makes it hard to sympathise with him at all. But none of these guys are heroes (or even villains, strictly speaking), even Lemmon’s Shelly, who is a real ne’er do well loser. You pity him, but he’s far too wimpy and grovelling to actually like. Pacino (in a solid performance, thankfully not too much Shouty Al) seems to be playing one of the more likeable guys, but in his scenes with Jonathan Pryce, he ultimately proves just as much of a manipulative salesman as anyone else in the film. It’s all about business and self-preservation, and screw what happens to anyone else. That’s the mantra set-up by Baldwin’s character (‘always be closing’), and administered by heartless Spacey.

Mamet’s dialogue is at its best showing here. It’s all about the rhythm and delivery by the actors, and nowhere is that more evident than in this film. Watch any scene with Spacey or Harris in particular, those two guys really seem to get it. Meanwhile, the funniest thing about the film? In 2012 ‘Patel’ wouldn’t be the name of a lead, it’d be the last name of the guy trying to sell you something. That’s just about the only dated element in the entire script.

I said earlier that the film is a bit stagy, but I have to commend Foley for his use of pouring rain throughout the film. It’s a nice way to give us a feeling of claustrophobia, as these guys are stuck in the office, stuck in their seemingly hopeless situation, Lemmon especially.

This is riveting stuff about 99.99% of the time, with only the ending proving a bit of a fizzer. I think the film ends on a very strange, relatively inconsequential moment. It should’ve ended either just before or just after this moment.

Other than a dud ending and some staginess, this is a winner. Any fan of great screen acting needs to see this film. Nice, jazzy score by James Newton Howard (“Signs”, “The Dark Knight”, “The Happening”), is pretty cool too.

Rating: B