Glengarry Glen Ross (1992)

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

If you want to boil Glengarry Glen Ross down to its basic premise, two alternative titles to the movie could be Men Yelling at Each Other to Entertaining Results, or 7 Angry Men. Either way, it’s remarkable.

Summary

After calling his wife from the telephone booth at the China Bowl Restaurant, real estate salesman Sheldon Levene (Lemmon) calls his doctor. At the same time, fellow real estate salesman Dave Moss (Ed Harris) picks up the other phone while bringing up how terrible the new leads they got are. Arguing with a client and how he only has 48 hours to make this couple on the other end a lot of money, Moss decides to call back in ten minutes when the husband gets home. Levene couldn’t get a hold of his doctor either, despite stressing the urgency of the call. Levene and Moss further discuss the leads and this sales conference they have to attend as well, where some big shot talks about how they know everything. Once the two talk passively about leaving the company, Moss runs into office manager John Williamson (Spacey) and gives him shit about the leads and the sales conference. Uncaring, Williamson explains that the sales conference strategy comes from downtown and has nothing to do with him. Moss considers not going, but Williamson assures him he won’t want to miss it. Levene asks about the new leads because he’s hit a bit of a snag as of late, and Williamson says these new leads will be the topic of the meeting. Williamson is also very aware of Levene’s poor sales. Levene insists he would be fine if he had better leads like the Glengarry one’s, but Williamson cuts the conversation short and heads out the door. Walking in the bar as Williamson walks out is the lead salesman of the office Richard Roma (Pacino). Roma has a drink with Levene at the bar and his conversation catches the attention of a stranger sitting there named James (Pryce).

Levene excuses himself and heads back to the office, which is in walking distance from this restaurant they all frequent.

At the office, Levene talks with the last salesman of the office George Aaronow (Arkin). It’s presumed he just lost a sale because a woman he almost made a major sale too decided to check with her lawyer first before she made any quick decisions. In Williamson’s private office is the mysterious Blake (Baldwin). Nobody knows who he is. Once Moss walks in, Williamson and Blake pop out of the private office and into the main room to begin the meeting. Though it’s time for the meeting, they decide not to wait for Roma because no one knows where he’s at. Right after, Blake begins a fiery speech to explain things. He was sent directly from downtown from Mitch and Murray to set this office straight. He’s interrupted by Levene who decides to get some coffee as he talks. Blake demands he put it down because “Coffee’s for closers only”. Laying down the law, Blake says they’re all fired, but they have one week to regain their jobs starting with tonight. They’re also adding something to this month’s sales contest. The first prize is already a Cadillac Eldorado, but now, the second prize is a set of steak knives. If you come in third, you’re fired. He will have no talk of the leads being weak. He just blames the salesmen for not being able to close. Remember, “Always be closing”. After boiling it down to a basic strategy of “A” (attention), “I” (interest), “D” (decision), “A” (action), he takes his turn yelling at each salesman individually while flaunting his own personal success in their faces, arguing they just aren’t trying hard enough. Then, he shows them the stack of the new Glengarry leads. They won’t be going to them. The Glengarry leads are only for closers.

As Blake goes back into the private office with Williamson, the rest of the office is in shock.

Eventually, Blake leaves, and Levene calls the hospital to say he has to stay out tonight and to tell his wife. Williamson hands the salesmen two lead cards for tonight and they will be getting two for tomorrow. Immediately, Levene has a problem with the leads because they are names he’s seen before and they’re terrible. Levene inquires about the Glengarry leads, but Williamson says he’s hanging onto them and will only give them to “closers”. Based on the sales volume, Roma will probably get them first, even though he’s still not back yet. Williamson gives Roma a pass though because he’s the top salesman by a large margin. As everyone panics and tries to get to work on leads that they have already failed on before, Williamson locks the Glengarry leads in his filing cabinet. Levene and George get right to calling and lie their asses off to try and make something happen with these unsuspecting clients. At the same time, Moss sulks in one of the rooms and smokes his cigarette angrily. Later, George talks with Moss, and they talk about how there is no hope regarding these leads, how George isn’t feeling too great lately, and how Moss thinks Roma has just been lucky as of late. Moss takes George out for a late-night drive, so they clean clear the heads. In the car, Moss brings up how competitor Jerry Graff is doing things right. In fact, Moss heard Graff is clearing fourteen to fifteen grand a week and it’s because he has the good leads.

Back at the office, Levene’s sales call is a failure. Williamson starts to close up the office for the night, so Levene uses this as an opportunity to plead with him for some of the good leads to help him out. He tries to convince Williamson of his past resume and how all he needs is a few good leads to save the day, but Williamson insists he can’t do anything about it. When he gets to his car, Levene offers to give him 10% of what he makes on the leads if he gets them. Williamson isn’t convinced Levene can pull it off even if he does get the leads. Plus, if Levene does fuck it up, Williamson will lose his job for giving it to Levene. Williamson counters with an asking price of 20% of Levene’s profits and $50 a lead. Though he’s hesitant, Levene agrees but Williamson demands $100 up front for the two leads tonight. At this point, Williamson has no intention of giving him anything because he knows Levene doesn’t have it. Levene can only muster up $30 but promises to get the rest of it to him in the morning. Williamson refuses. Now, Levene is getting agitated and talks about how one call to Murray and he could take Williamson’s job. Realizing this is going nowhere and Williamson is about to leave, Levene pivots and asks for two more of the old leads. Williamson refuses this because he already has his two for tonight, even though one of them isn’t even home. As Moss and George complain at a diner, Levene goes to the house of the person he was calling earlier to try and sell. Unfortunately, the wife was the one he was talking to over the phone, but she isn’t there at the house. It’s her husband, and he has no interest in Levene’s pitch, despite his desperate efforts.

Meanwhile, Moss talks about a potential idea to George about robbing the office to get back at Mitch and Murray, take the Glengarry leads, and go straight to Jerry Graff. They head into the China Bowl Restaurant as they talk. As Levene calls another lead from a telephone booth, Roma is still at the China Bowl Restaurant with James. They share philosophies on life over a drink, and Roma works his conversational magic, winking at Moss while he does it. Though it started off as playful conversation, George starts to realize Moss actually talked to Jerry Graff about his idea of stealing the Glengarry leads, with Moss saying each lead is worth $10 a piece. Basically, they can net $2,500 each, as Moss wants George to help him. Apparently, they will both have jobs with Graff if they go through with it. At the same time Levene calls the hospital to ask about his daughter and how he’ll have the money needed tomorrow, Moss and George continue their serious conversation. Moss insists they have to do it tonight if they’re serious because they’ll probably take the leads back downtown by tomorrow and parcel them out. However, Moss says George has to be the one to do it because he’s the one who got the deal with Graff, and everyone will think he did it once the cops get involved because of his reputation of being a loudmouth. George doesn’t want to do it, so Moss considers it because he’ll have an alibi but keeps pestering George to see if he would snitch on him if they were questioned. Then, Moss says this has to happen because he doesn’t want to lose out on $7,500. It turns out that George is the one getting $2,500. Moss is getting more from Graff. Moss then tells George that if he’s out, then he has to take the consequences because he listened. Levene continues to struggle on the phone.

Meanwhile, Roma finally finds a great segue in his conversation with James to try and sell him on Glengarry Highlands, showing him a brochure.

As we can see, everyone is in a bind regarding this shakeup at the office, but it gets worse the next morning. Roma gets to the office and sees the police everywhere. The office was robbed. Some of the contracts were stolen. Even so, Williamson filed Roma’s deal with James the night before and it’s already downtown. This officially puts Roma over the top and in line for the car. Unfortunately, this robbery complicates the process, as Roma, Levene, Moss, and George are now all suspects.

My Thoughts:

Glengarry Glen Ross is not only some of the finest acting from an ensemble ever put to screen, but it also succeeds in showing is how if your screenplay is good enough, you can garner any reaction and keep the viewer’s attention purely with dialogue and performance. Much like the theatrical production it’s based on, David Mamet’s masterpiece doesn’t need elaborate set pieces nor much action of any kind to excite and entertain. Even in the film, there are minimal locations used, no gimmicky filmmaking techniques, and nothing to distract from the basic story at all. To still be a satisfying cinematic experience with this approach can be a difficult one to pull off, which is why it’s seldom done. However, when a filmmaker manages to put it together and all the pieces come to play, it’s absolutely glorious. For Glengarry Glen Ross, the only selling point you need is that director James Foley and producer Jerry Tokofsky decided to collect some of the finest actors of their time in one movie, having them play salesman, and watching the sparks fly.

When those sparks do fly, the fire ignites quickly after, and the flames don’t stop until the finale.

Trying to construct a screenplay based entirely on character work can be difficult, but the blueprint of a play does help, as they are forced into the situation because a stage can only allow so much in terms of action. This is why adaptations of theatrical productions are popular with studios, as it allows a cheaper form of movie to be made and they can make up for any potential issues by using the allotted budget on signing high-profile actors. Even so, in the case of this movie, most of the main cast took pay cuts to make this thing happen because they believed in Mamet’s script that much. Despite the film bombing at the box office, don’t let this deter you. They were right in their assumptions that this feature was worth being a part of. The characters are just written with detail not normally seen in a mainstream movie, with each one being defined as if Mamet knew them personally. They are all salesman with completely different personalities, living situations, and wildly different approaches to sales. With this alone, there’s enough arguing to go around for everyone. It’s just what happens when you have this many colorful personalities, in one office, in a competition that could result in most of them losing their jobs. Despite the office setting, this is very much the jungle game of “Survival of the Fittest” brought to life, and we become glued to the screen in seeing how these characters will approach the situation, how they react to each other since this is not a team environment, and how low they will go to beat or just outlast the other to survive for another day in the topsy-turvy world of a commission-based career.

The center of it all is Jack Lemmon as the desperate Shelley Levene. He used to be a top salesman years before, but he’s been ice cold as of late, something everyone in the office is aware of including office manager John Williamson. Even so, Levene truly believes the leads are the problem, and it’s hard to argue with him when seeing what he goes through during the course of this movie. He cold calls, he drives to their houses in the rain, and uses every tactic imaginable in an attempt to sell the seemingly un-sellable.

He tries too.

Boy, does he try.

Truthfully, if he showed up to my house in the manner he did with the one unknowing husband, I’d kick him out too, but this is how well-done Glengarry Glen Ross is. In real life, these types of salesmen are fucking annoying, but in the context of the movie, you want Levene to work these people for the sake of his career. We can understand the pressure he’s been put under because of his job. A lot of us have been put in similarly pressure-filled situations. To give you an early insight into how far they are willing to go, Levene gets desperate enough to straight-up offer Williamson money for the Glengarry leads and promises him a portion of his commission. This is what it’s come to. Despite all of them talking shit to Williamson on a regular basis, they have now been put in a do-or-die situation from Mitch and Murray, and they are freaking out on how to survive. It’s understandable, especially because time is running out with Roma far ahead on the leader boards. If someone like Levene is already down by a lot, the only shot he has is getting the golden geese that are the Glengarry leads. This layer of drama and despair only adds to the gravity of the situation and further complicates the engrossing story at hand once the leads are stolen because all of the salesmen have a reason to do it. None of them, especially the disgruntled Dave Moss, believes Richard Roma is that good of a salesman. As it is usually in sales, you get on a hot streak and feel unstoppable. Since this is Roma’s time in the sun, he’s been “lucky” enough to be on such a hot streak that he’s being given the best leads and has continued to crush it as a result. It’s that simple in their eyes. If Moss, George, or Levene were given leads similar to Roma, they would do just as good if not better, according to them. The situation they’ve been put in is unfair to them.

Though we may not be salesmen per say, the audience is let in on this fact and we can see both sides of the situation. There are a lot of moving parts to sales, and luck is part of it. This is why we empathize with this troubled group of salesmen who have had an up and down set of years. Moss himself is the second-best salesman and he’s angered more than anyone, which attracts us more to the gripes of their situation. Along with this, Shelley is dealing with family health issues at the same time, so this added stress of potentially being fired isn’t helping. When you add in the innocence of George, played very well by Alan Arkin, you start to wonder to yourself, “This Ricky Roma can’t be that good, can he?”. As quickly as we wonder about it, Al Pacino quells any suspicions with an equally masterful performance of salesman sorcery. With perfect hair, a genuine and thoughtful approach, and a comforting aura while at the Chinese Bowl Restaurant, we get to see the Richard Roma at work. Pacino is already luring us in with his performance, but he does so as Roma at the same time. When we think he’s having some innocent conversation with his fellow salesman at the bar, it’s all just a ploy. Roma is now the one who is acting. He spotted his target as soon as he walked into the restaurant, the impressionable James Lingk. With ease, the genius of Roma turns his “personal” bar conversation with Shelley into a public discussion with a stranger, who doesn’t realize he’s about to become a customer. His conversational wizardry turns into a full-on sales pitch that doesn’t come off as a salesman trying to sell real estate. No, it’s as if Roma is a guy who’s in on something big and wants his friend to be a part of it.

That is sales.

Roma is just a master of the game, and his calculated approach is perfection. You want to know why he’s the best salesman of the office? You want to know why he deserves the Cadillac El Dorado? This is why. That next morning, he lets everyone know too. In a speech arguably just as good as Alec Baldwin’s, we see the ruthlessness of Roma when he’s in the office. Uncaring of the office being robbed and the no-nonsense cops who are in the office, he wreaks havoc by insisting his winning of the competition to Williamson but is incensed at the mere thought of having to re-close some contracts or work on smaller ones in general because of the robbery (“Patel?”). Dually, we get to see Al Pacino putting Kevin Spacey in his place, which is just awesome on so many different levels. Actually, that’s probably the most underrated part of the movie. Pacino, Lemmon, and Ed Harris all get turns yelling at Spacey. Though the character doesn’t necessarily deserve it, he’s such a smug son of a bitch that you can’t help but enjoy watching him get consistent verbal lashings at some of the more intense moments of the film. Honestly, by the time Levene goes off on Williamson, you might actually feel bad for him. He does get his licks in though. In fact, his cold delivery of the simple line “…because I don’t like you” is arguably the best out of the entire film.

Roma really is the man though. When Williamson fucks up the James Lingk situation by stepping and saying his sale has already been processed, I couldn’t help but smile like a hyena when looking at Roma’s face. At that moment, you know he is going to flip out as soon as James leaves the room. Williamson knows it, and we are begging for it because Al Pacino flipping the fuck out is the most entertaining part of any movie. What’s astounding about this sequence is how close Roma was to saving the situation before Williamson walked in, showing the artistry it takes to being a lying salesman. His rant was justified. In another instance of Roma’s sales trickery, we see his initial frustration of James trying to back out of the deal but after some stalling tactics, Roma goes for the unthinkable and essentially tries to re-sell him on the whole idea by appealing to his emotions and what he’s going through. He even straight-up tells him that the deal is dead to regain his wavering trust. We’re drawn in just as much as James is. It’s actually working. In fact, we know what Roma is doing at this point, but you still can’t help but fall for it. This is how good Pacino is in his authenticity acting as this top-notch salesman, acting as this “friend” to this stranger. He comes off as a confidante and an absolute master at his trade who’s is prepared enough to fix this sale before it’s blown. All he needs his time and no one to interfere, and it’s completely ruined by Williamson trying to help. It’s an excellently crafted scene of suspense, character work, and knowing exactly when and where to pull the trigger on putting together a scene and deciding when the action and downturn of events needs to take place, without stalling any momentum and furthering the intensity of what’s going on.

Pacino was able to do this and Scent of a Woman in the same year? Unbelievable.

I love how everyone takes turns being friends or at each other’s throats too. Levene tries to do anything at all costs to try and befriend Williamson out of desperation to hopefully get a lead, but as soon as he sells Mountain View (82 grand, 8 units) and feels rejuvenated, he goes on a cocky rant to berate Williamson to declare he’s back, or that he never left. Roma tries to instill confidence in George, who really needs it, and Roma enjoys Levene’s company and respects the time and work he’s put in over the years. He goes out of his way to ask Levene about his sale, and you can see how good it makes Levene feel. Just for that short period of time, the viewer is let in on who Roma calls “The Machine”. They’re both veterans at this game, and Roma considers them both members of a dying breed, which is why there is a mutual respect between them to the very end. When they essentially do that vaudeville routine on the spot (complete with a code word and everything) to trick James into thinking Levene is a client to make Roma look good, it’s another magnificently entertaining example into how far these salesmen have to go in their jobs to present themselves as professionals, despite how much lying and bullshit it takes to be considered great. At the same time, Roma doesn’t give a single fuck at what Willamson has to say, along with everyone else. In addition, neither Roma nor Moss care for each other, and both seem to be waiting for their opportunity to give each other shit, which comes to pass once Levene finally makes his big sale. Moss is annoyed at someone succeeding, while Roma respectfully gives him his props. Moss, who already thinks Roma is smug and isn’t as good as he thinks he is, uses this as an opportunity to air out his feelings, and Roma gives it right back to him pointing out how Moss is even worse when he closes.

It’s just constant bickering between all of these grown men, and as long as you’re not watching it with your family, you wouldn’t have it any other way. It’s that good, and every line is important.

In a scene that’s not even in the original play it’s based on, Alec Baldwin takes over from the acting heavyweights he’s up against and commands the room with authority. The “Coffee’s for Closers” sequence will live in infamy. With just one scene in the whole film, Baldwin’s Blake creates the cutthroat atmosphere these salesmen live and die by and as a result, takes the viewers’ attention by force. Blake is Mitch and Murray’s top salesman and lets the entire room know about it. He’s there to motivate them like a drill instructor to sell the shit leads they have. Though he explains they aren’t bad leads, they’re just shit salesmen. His ultra confidence is that of a CEO and his “brass balls” are noted literally and figuratively in this sole sequence that sends shockwaves to the audience and these salesmen, who get a taste of their own medicine since each of them take turns having their way with office manager Williamson. It’s really the audacity of Baldwin that makes it not only powerful from an acting standpoint but hysterically gripping like when he points out to Moss that he made $970,000 last year knowing Moss made nowhere near that and telling Levene, “You call yourself a salesman, you son of a bitch”. Everything he said is with ferocity, an unwavering confidence, and a disgust for those under him. This monologue goes on for about 8 minutes, almost uninterrupted, and it’s ELECTRIC. “A, B, C. A-Always, B-Be, C-closing. Always be closing. Always be closing”. These words in Baldwin’s exact line delivery will live in my head for an eternity. Despite Blake being an undeniable prick, Baldwin is phenomenal in this lone sequence as he reminds us of what it takes to be at the absolute tip top in the world of sales.

Though it wouldn’t make sense from a story or character standpoint, I would’ve LOVED for him to match up with Al Pacino’s Richard Roma.

“Oh, have I got your attention now?”. Yes, you have Alec. Yes, you have.

There is not a single weak link in this male-dominated ensemble. Every single person knew their role, understood their character inside and out, and gave exactly what was needed in the time given. The personalities clash so seamlessly, it’s as if there was no script given and they were told to improvise based off scene directions and character descriptions alone. Obviously, it’s not improvised, but this how well Glengarry Glen Ross is done. Everyone came to play and believed in supremely talented playwright and screenwriter David Mamet’s script, treating it as the acting Super Bowl it had the potential of being. By the time this whirlwind of emotions is over, and your headache is pounding, you’ll tip your hat to the final line from Alan Arkin.

“Oh God. I hate this job”. After all of this, yeah, we can see why.

It may not be on your radar, but if you want to see one of the rare examples of the perfect combination of writing and performance art in film, Glengarry Glen Ross is about as good as it gets.

Fun Fact: Alec Baldwin was originally set to be Richard Roma but left because of a contractual disagreement along with being annoyed at the fact that they still wanted Al Pacino for the role and were going to give it to him if he accepted. This is why they created a role for Baldwin instead. Robert De Niro, Bruce Willis, Richard Gere, and Joe Mantegna all expressed interest in doing the movie as well. Mantegna played the role of Roma on Broadway, so it makes sense.