Glengarry Glen Ross - never heard anybody mention it , never read a review about it, until I found it at the video rental. This is an adaption of a Pulitzer winning play, about the dark side of the American dream. And this little gem contains an unbelievable star cast - how this movie actually got filmed at all, given the complications of scheduling several of the most sought after actors, is a mystery.
Four real-estate salesmen played by Al Pacino, Alan Larkin, Jack Lemmon and Ed Harris, desperately battle to sell shady real estate deals that have no takers. We watch as the four make a last-ditch effort to con some patsies into signing on the dotted line, after the head office serves up a notice that those whose sales fail to measure up will be out on the street. The film gradually reveals the undersides of the four and the extent to which ethics of commerce and common decency will get sidelined in their race to survive.
The act of talking is to a salesman so intrinsically a part of his job persona, so much the wand that channels the magic, that soon enough, the power of words seduces his judgement and his own bullshit becomes real to him. What hasn’t been put into words has no existence at all. As long as it is not admitted to in words, acts against the conscience may be committed free of culpability. Very masterfully seen in a humorous scene involving Ed Harris and Alan Larkin (a newbie salesman) -they do a sort of verbal tango, discussing obliquely without openly stating the idea of committing a robbery to steal sales leads.
You’ve probably seen Jack Lemmon in the feel-good Grumpy Old Men, but here he plays an oily down-on-luck salesman, whose genial mask slips up now and then despite his best efforts, to reveal his desperation and bitterness. One of the all-time great performances for which you’d have to design a whole new award.
Alec Baldwin in a blue-eyed blast of intensity appears very briefly in the beginning as the head-office guy giving the branch office an ultimatum to shape-up or ship-out. Its an extremely nasty character he plays, and Baldwin gives an effectively coldblooded performance without raising his voice.
Watching Al Pacino play loudmouth Ricky Roma, you can’t miss the sheer labor that is acting. Take a look at him when he’s in the background of a scene, where someone else is taking the focus. Every moment, the hand gestures, the posturing, the expressions are in place, never relaxing, never slipping.
Final mention reserved for Kevin Spacey:- he turns in a fantastic, restrained performance as the rule-bound office manager. This is an unusual, fascinating buildup for a character- he starts out very-low key and background, and you might almost mistake it for a minor role at that point, but as the plot progresses, he is revealed in increasing intensity and malevolence, getting into the action, finally coming into spotlight in the explosive ’’Go to lunch’’ scene, when he bawls out Larkin for messing up a deal. I think I must have seen that scene 10 times.
I recommend seeing the DVD comments from the director David Foley and the actors for some insightful discussions of the movie. Ed Harris says of the movie, ’’Its not about telling the truth. Its about making somebody believe you’re telling the truth. The story is about the evils of the free enterprise system.’’ Lemmon also comments ’’The American Dream is something that can always be misused-that if you work hard, you can do anything and be successful. But the definition of success is almost always somebody else’s when it should be your own’’.
If you love movies, you don’t dare miss this one.