Utterly joyless film, scripted by David Mamet from his Pulitzer Prize-winning play, about harried, put-upon real estate agents struggling to satisfy the corporate bosses and keep their jobs, lying to and cheating their clients, their co-workers, and maybe even themselves. Great all-male ensemble does first-rate work (with Alec Baldwin in the newly-written role of the company's Standard Bearer, a demoralizing sales hotshot who sees the workplace as a battlefield); yet, for all their combined brilliance, the material as presented here is difficult to watch. Barbed, ugly, belligerent, it leaves the viewer beaten and bowed. Jack Lemmon's "Save the Tiger" only scratched at the surface of these characters' dead-end lives. Director James Foley goes a bit heavy on the rain-drenched pitifulness (his chilly blues and grays become visually monotonous), while Mamet--an intelligent and insightful writer--refuses to let up, giving us no relief from the pummeling deluge of verbal assaults. This is one to admire for its obvious craft and as a showcase for the actors, yet it's not a picture to take to heart. ** from ****