This is a well-directed adaptation of David Mamet's trenchant play about corrupt real estate salesman, and one's enjoyment of it will depend on whether one cares for Mamet's tricksy, obscenity-laden dialogue, and if one is a fan of first-rate acting. I'm less than enthusiastic about Mamet's work, which strikes me as gimmicky and repetitive. He seems to be always working out some private issues that he inevitably hangs on sexual or economic politics; and there is a lack of depth and originality in his work, and a penchant for envelope-pushing that I do not personally care for. On the other hand, Mamet actors seem to rate him highly, and tend to give their all when appearing in his work. Glengarry Glen Ross is exceedingly well acted by all,--Al Pacino, Jack Lemmon, Ed Harris, Alan Arkin, Alec Baldwin and, in a small but pivotal role, Jonathan Pryce. The edge of desperation around the eyes, and the crack in his Ivy league voice, makes Jack Lemmon's character of Shelley a pathetic, well-rounded figure. Harris and Arkin breathe life into their one-dimensional characters, and seem continually to be shouting throughout the film. Pacino's performance is the most flamboyant and also the most disciplined of the group, making the loathsome Ricky Roma both charismatic and repulsive. He at times sounds like he's literally singing his lines, and he moves more gracefully than I've ever seen him. The play is at times ludicrous, and the resolution (who stole the leads?) is strictly from the Golden Age of television. I can't imagine that people in real life could carry on like the characters in this play do for more than an hour or so, as most normal people would, were they to conduct themselves at such a fever pitch, go into cardiac arrest or suffer a stroke. Overall this is a first-rate adaptation of an essentially second-rate piece of work, with hollering and swearing making up for imagination and true insight into characters.
Review of Glengarry Glen Ross
