Glengarry Glen RossWhat compels one person to sell something to another? Is it the rush of achievement that comes with closing, or the desperation to prove one's value? Glengarry Glen Ross is a drama about an office of real estate salesmen who are given an ultimatum by an aggressive "motivator" named Blake (Alec Baldwin): close or be fired by the end of the week. Consequently, the veteran salesmen--including Shelley "The Machine" Levene (Jack Lemmon), Dave Moss (Ed Harris), George Aaronow (Alan Arkin), and Ricky Roma (Al Pacino)--cross all sorts of ethical thresholds to keep jobs that they all seem to hate.
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Glengarry Glen Ross is directed by James Foley, with a screenplay by David Mamet--adapted from his stage play--and takes place almost exclusively between the salesmen's office downtown and at the Chinese restaurant across the street, with its half burnt-out sign. This claustrophobic element heightens the near-paranoid level of stress and anxiety that dominates these men. Including their younger manager/corporate bureaucrat, John Williamson (Kevin Spacey), they work late into the night, and only come up for air when they cross the street in the pouring rain for a nightcap. Despite this, it's difficult to concretely say that these men are always working--or "always closing", as Blake barks. After the deliberately antagonistic ultimatum Blake foists on the sales team--with his actively insulting and condescendingly bilious diatribe--how many of them actually go out and try to make a sale? Moss and Aaronow instead go out for a drive and get donuts, while commiserating about the unfairness of such a threat to their livelihood; Moss even compares it to slavery. Levene and Roma try to make sales in the dark of night by cold calling tired leads, with varying degrees of success, and use elaborate and deceptive practices to do it. Levene calls up a prospect and presents himself as a sophisticated "vice president", while pretending to order his "secretary" to book him a flight and get him ten thousand dollars of pocket money--a virtual show for his customer on the other line. When Levene shows up at her house, his disingenuous facade is immediately apparent to his client's husband, getting him kicked out. Roma's line of attack is far more sly and insinuating; it isn't until he pulls out the brochure for the property he's selling to a nervous barfly named James Lingk (Jonathan Pryce), that we realize that he wasn't just waxing philosophical with a fellow tippler. But when Lingk gets cold feet at the investment, Roma pulls every dirty trick in the book to delay him so that he can't take advantage of a legal clause letting him off the hook.
The entire world of Glengarry Glen Ross is toxic and mean-spirited, where it's easier for the realtors to blame somebody else or lie than admit that they aren't happy with their careers. The claustrophobic setting highlights that they can't see a different way of life than this, and have consigned themselves to psychological hell. All of the salesmen clamor for the "premium" client leads, which Williamson has been instructed to withhold for "closers". Despite the team's tenure, their bosses at Mitch and Murray intentionally stack the deck against them--they won't show faith in them unless they can miraculously sell some old and unlikely lead that probably wasn't serious to begin with. This makes the salesmen obsessive about leads, going on at length like addicts angling for their next fix. Levene occasionally makes phone calls to a hospital, suggesting that his commissions are going to finance a medical procedure for a loved one; despite his motivations, he alternates between aggressively demanding or begging for leads from Williamson, instead of speaking his heart about why he really needs them. Why withhold this detail? The truth is that it probably wouldn't help his situation. Levene is a part of a system where lying is treated like an art form, and playing the "sick relative" card would likely be viewed as an amateur play--even if it were true. The mindset of the salesmen in Glengarry Glen Ross is such that they cannot stop selling, even when they are "selling" some idea to someone else--they just can't turn it off. Levene doesn't just need the premium leads from Williamson, but he needs to sell him on the idea that he needs them. Roma doesn't just need to sell Lingk a plot of swampland--he needs the freedom to sell on his own terms, triumph in his own way, and not be accountable for not showing up to Blake's anti-pep rally. Moss takes Aaronow to dinner and chats him up about how he's been "talking" to a competitor and is looking to shop his sales skills to someone who would better appreciate his talents. He starts by talking about how valuable the premium leads are, and then subtly suggests that he might be able to make some quick cash--and get retribution against Mitch and Murray--by robbing the office and selling the leads to the competition. The scenes involving these two salesmen griping about their jobs is really Moss going to work on Aaronow, trying to sell him on the idea of robbing the office, instead of actually going out and trying to sell to a real client. These scenes cut back and forth to Roma selling to Lingk, underscoring the similarities in their respective pitches. The predominance of colorful language in Glengarry Glen Ross is often discussed, and speaks how their high-pressure environment psychologically breaks them down and reduces them to tightly wound balls of rage--they are so angry that they are incapable of even considering leaving for greener pastures.
Recommended for: Fans of a drama adapted from the stage, filled with a star-studded cast of highly talented actors giving concentrated and powerful performances. Glengarry Glen Ross is only superficially about sales; its real message is about the dangers of stagnating in a career you learn to loathe, and can be applied to any profession or walk of life. It is a warning about not allowing a narrow view of your prospects to embitter you and drag you down.
The entire world of Glengarry Glen Ross is toxic and mean-spirited, where it's easier for the realtors to blame somebody else or lie than admit that they aren't happy with their careers. The claustrophobic setting highlights that they can't see a different way of life than this, and have consigned themselves to psychological hell. All of the salesmen clamor for the "premium" client leads, which Williamson has been instructed to withhold for "closers". Despite the team's tenure, their bosses at Mitch and Murray intentionally stack the deck against them--they won't show faith in them unless they can miraculously sell some old and unlikely lead that probably wasn't serious to begin with. This makes the salesmen obsessive about leads, going on at length like addicts angling for their next fix. Levene occasionally makes phone calls to a hospital, suggesting that his commissions are going to finance a medical procedure for a loved one; despite his motivations, he alternates between aggressively demanding or begging for leads from Williamson, instead of speaking his heart about why he really needs them. Why withhold this detail? The truth is that it probably wouldn't help his situation. Levene is a part of a system where lying is treated like an art form, and playing the "sick relative" card would likely be viewed as an amateur play--even if it were true. The mindset of the salesmen in Glengarry Glen Ross is such that they cannot stop selling, even when they are "selling" some idea to someone else--they just can't turn it off. Levene doesn't just need the premium leads from Williamson, but he needs to sell him on the idea that he needs them. Roma doesn't just need to sell Lingk a plot of swampland--he needs the freedom to sell on his own terms, triumph in his own way, and not be accountable for not showing up to Blake's anti-pep rally. Moss takes Aaronow to dinner and chats him up about how he's been "talking" to a competitor and is looking to shop his sales skills to someone who would better appreciate his talents. He starts by talking about how valuable the premium leads are, and then subtly suggests that he might be able to make some quick cash--and get retribution against Mitch and Murray--by robbing the office and selling the leads to the competition. The scenes involving these two salesmen griping about their jobs is really Moss going to work on Aaronow, trying to sell him on the idea of robbing the office, instead of actually going out and trying to sell to a real client. These scenes cut back and forth to Roma selling to Lingk, underscoring the similarities in their respective pitches. The predominance of colorful language in Glengarry Glen Ross is often discussed, and speaks how their high-pressure environment psychologically breaks them down and reduces them to tightly wound balls of rage--they are so angry that they are incapable of even considering leaving for greener pastures.
Recommended for: Fans of a drama adapted from the stage, filled with a star-studded cast of highly talented actors giving concentrated and powerful performances. Glengarry Glen Ross is only superficially about sales; its real message is about the dangers of stagnating in a career you learn to loathe, and can be applied to any profession or walk of life. It is a warning about not allowing a narrow view of your prospects to embitter you and drag you down.