Review of Glengarry Glen Ross (1992) by Isaac H — 04 Jun 2010

"Glengarry Glen Ross" draws the curtain of reality on the alarmingly riveting cosmos of real estate salesmen. The men of Premiere Properties aren't the slimy guys in thousand dollar suits with expensive cars and toothy grins. They are Average Joes with bills to pay, kids to feed, and mortgages chewing through their bank accounts. And their motivation isn't money, but rather the knowledge that they probably won't make enough of it. The office space is a slum of desperation and despair helped none at all when the struggling firm's owners dispatch Blake (Alec Baldwin, in a cameo written specifically for him) to announce a grueling challenge: a Cadillac for the month's top salesman and pink slips for the bottom feeders.

The only fallback these poor schmos have is a set of steak knives for the runner-up. Levene (Jack Lemmon) sinks his veteran fangs into a handful of unpromising leads while bulldog Dave (Ed Harris) yearns for desperate actions. Alpha male Ricky Roma (Al Pacino) is the top closer, ever-calm, ever-calculating, and abrasively philosophical; he doesn't break a sweat over the boss' (Kevin Spacey) decision to hold back on the shiny new stack of sales leads. We soon learn there's no overlooking the ingenuity of these men, because desperation, as we all know, can drive a man crazy. The proceeding tension is so plentiful it can spill over into the film's warranted multiple viewings.

David Mamet adapts his Pulitzer Prize-winning play to fill the shoes of a to-die-for cast amidst an onslaught of razor-sharp, machine gun artillery dialogue. The noticeable stage play format of "Glengarry Glen Ross" allows the audience to savor the quality of the characters above the A-list star power, but professional scene-stealer Al Pacino couldn't help snagging an Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actor. He plays Roma as either a gum-chewing apathetic or a man too smooth and sarcastic for his own good, adding to a collective showcase of craftsmanship that leaves nothing to be desired.