Glengarry Glen Ross (film) - Misplaced Pages

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Glengarry Glen Ross
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	James Foley
Screenplay by	David Mamet
Produced by	Jerry Tokofsky Stanley R. Zupnik
Starring	Al Pacino Jack Lemmon Alec Baldwin Ed Harris Alan Arkin Kevin Spacey Jonathan Pryce
Cinematography	Juan Ruiz Anchía
Edited by	Howard E. Smith
Music by	James Newton Howard
Production company	Zupnik Cinema Group II
Distributed by	New Line Cinema
Release date	October 2, 1992 (1992-10-02)
Running time	100 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$12.5 million
Box office	$10,725,228 (US)

Glengarry Glen Ross is a 1992 American drama film, adapted by David Mamet from his acclaimed 1984 Pulitzer Prize- and Tony-winning play of the same name. The film depicts two days in the lives of four real estate salesmen and how they become desperate when the corporate office sends a trainer to "motivate" them by announcing that, in one week, all except the top two salesmen will be fired. The film, like the play, is notorious for its use of profanity, leading the cast to jokingly refer to the film as "Death of a Fuckin' Salesman". The title of the film comes from the names of two of the real estate developments being peddled by the salesmen characters (Glengarry Highlands and Glen Ross Farms).

Glengarry Glen Ross had its world premiere at the Venice Film Festival where Jack Lemmon won the Volpi Cup for Best Actor. The film was not a commercial success, making only $10.7 million in North America, just below its $12.5 million budget. It was critically well-received with highly positive reviews by most of the major critics. Al Pacino was nominated for an Academy Award and a Golden Globe for Best Supporting Actor for his work in the film.

Plot

The film depicts two days in the lives of four real estate salesmen who are supplied with names and phone numbers of leads (potential clients) and regularly use underhanded and dishonest tactics to make sales. Many of the leads rationed out by the office manager lack either the money or the desire to actually invest in land.

Blake (Baldwin) is sent by Mitch and Murray (the owners of the office in which the characters work) to motivate the salesmen. Blake unleashes a torrent of verbal abuse on the men and announces that only the top two sellers will be allowed access to the more promising Glengarry leads and the rest of them will be fired.

Shelley "The Machine" Levene (Lemmon), a once-successful salesman now in a long-running slump and with a sick daughter, knows that he will lose his job soon if he cannot generate sales. He tries to convince office manager John Williamson (Spacey) to give him some of the Glengarry leads, but Williamson refuses. Levene tries first to charm Williamson, then to threaten him, and finally to bribe him. Williamson is willing to sell some of the prime leads, but demands cash in advance. Levene cannot come up with the cash and leaves without any good leads.

Dave Moss (Harris) and George Aaronow (Arkin) complain about Mitch and Murray, and Moss proposes that they strike back at the two by stealing all the Glengarry leads and selling them to a competing real estate agency. Moss's plan requires Aaronow to break into the office, stage a burglary and steal all of the prime leads. Aaronow wants no part of the plan, but Moss tries to coerce him, saying that Aaronow is already an accessory before the fact simply because he knows about the proposed burglary.

At a nearby bar, Ricky Roma (Pacino), the office's top "closer," delivers a long, disjointed but compelling monologue to a meek, middle-aged man named James Lingk (Pryce). Roma does not broach the subject of a real estate deal until he has completely won Lingk over with his speech. Framing it as being an opportunity rather than a purchase, Roma plays upon Lingk's feelings of insecurity.

The salesmen come into the office the following morning to find that there has been a burglary and the Glengarry leads have been stolen. Williamson and the police question each of the salesmen in private. After his interrogation, Moss leaves in disgust, only after having one last shouting match with Roma. During the cycle of interrogations, Lingk arrives to tell Roma that his wife has told him to cancel the deal. Scrambling to salvage the deal, Roma tries to deceive Lingk by telling him that the check he wrote the night before has yet to be cashed, and that accordingly he has time to reason with his wife and reconsider.

Levene abets Roma by pretending to be a wealthy investor who just happens to be on his way to the airport. Williamson, unaware of Roma and Levene's stalling tactic, lies to Lingk, claiming that he already deposited his check in the bank. Upset, Lingk rushes out of the office, threatening to contact the state's attorney, and Roma berates Williamson for what he has done. Roma then enters Williamson's office to take his turn being interrogated by the police.

Levene, proud of an unlikely sale he made that morning, takes the opportunity to mock Williamson in private. In his zeal to get back at Williamson, Levene carelessly reveals that he knows Williamson left Lingk's check on his desk and did not make the bank run the previous night—something only the man who broke into the office would know. Williamson catches Levene's slip-of-the-tongue quickly and compels Levene to admit that he broke into the office. Levene eventually breaks down and admits that he and Moss conspired to steal the leads to sell to a competitor. Levene attempts to bribe Williamson to keep quiet about the burglary. Williamson scoffs at the suggestion and tells Levene that the buyers to whom he made his sale earlier that day, Bruce and Harriet Nyborg, are in fact bankrupt and delusional and just enjoy talking to salesmen. Levene, crushed by this revelation, asks Williamson why he seeks to ruin him. Williamson coldly responds, "Because I don't like you."

Levene makes a last-ditch attempt at gaining sympathy from Williamson by mentioning his sick daughter, but Williamson cruelly rebuffs him and leaves to inform the detective about Levene's part in the burglary. Unaware of Levene's guilt, Roma walks out of the office for lunch and talks to Levene about forming a business partnership before the detective starts calling for Levene. The film ends as Levene walks, defeated, into Williamson's office.

Cast

Al Pacino as Ricky Roma
Jack Lemmon as Shelley "The Machine" Levene
Alec Baldwin as Blake
Ed Harris as Dave Moss
Alan Arkin as George Aaronow
Kevin Spacey as John Williamson
Jonathan Pryce as James Lingk
Bruce Altman as Larry Spannel
Jude Ciccolella as Detective

Production

David Mamet's play was first performed in 1983 at the Royal National Theatre, London, and won the Pulitzer Prize in 1984. That same year, the play made its American debut in Chicago before moving to Broadway. Producer Jerry Tokofsky read the play on a trip to New York City in 1985 at the suggestion of director Irvin Kershner who wanted to make it into a film. Tokofsky saw the play on Broadway and contacted Mamet. Stanley R. Zupnik was a Washington D.C.-based producer of B movies that was looking for a more profitable project. Tokofsky had co-produced two previous Zupnik films. In 1986, he told Zupnik about Mamet’s play and he saw it on Broadway but found the plot confusing. Mamet wanted $500,000 for the film rights and another $500,000 to write the screenplay. Zupnik agreed to pay Mamet’s $1 million asking price, figuring that they could cut a deal with a cable company to bankroll the movie. Because of the uncompromising subject matter and abrasive language, no major studio wanted to finance it, even with movie stars attached. Financing came from cable and video companies, a German television station, an Australian movie theater chain, several banks, and New Line Cinema over the course of four years.

Al Pacino originally wanted to do the play on Broadway but was doing another Mamet production, American Buffalo, in London at the time. He expressed interest in appearing in the film adaptation. In 1989, Tokofsky asked Jack Lemmon to act in the movie. During this time, Kershner dropped out to make another movie as did Pacino. Alec Baldwin, who also attached, left the project over a contract disagreement. James Foley’s agent sent the film director Mamet’s screenplay in early 1991 but he was hesitant to direct because he “wanted great actors, people with movie charisma, to give it watchability, especially since the locations were so restricted”. Foley took the screenplay to Pacino with whom he had been trying to work on a film for years. Foley was hired to direct, only to leave the production as well. By March 1991, Tokofsky contacted Baldwin and begged him to reconsider doing the film. The producer remembers, “Alec said: ‘I’ve read 25 scripts and nothing is as good as this. OK. If you make it, I’ll do it”. The two men arranged an informal reading with Lemmon in Los Angeles. Subsequently, the three men organized readings with several other actors as Lemmon remembers, "Some of the best damn actors you're ever going to see came in and read and I'm talking about names". Tokofsky's lawyer, Jake Bloom, called a meeting at the Creative Artists Agency who represented many of the actors involved and asked for their help. CAA showed little interest, but two of their clients – Ed Harris and Kevin Spacey – soon joined the cast.

Because of the film’s modest budget, many of the actors took significant pay cuts. For example, Pacino cut his per-movie price from $6 million to $1.5 million, Lemmon was paid $1 million, Baldwin received $250,000, and so on. This did not stop other actors, like Robert De Niro, Bruce Willis, Richard Gere and Joe Mantegna, from expressing interest in the film—Mantegna had been in the original Broadway cast and won a Tony Award in 1985 for his portrayal of Roma.

Once the film's cast was assembled, they spent three weeks in rehearsals. With a budget set at $12.5 million, filming began in August 1991 at the Kaufman Astoria Soundstage in Queens, New York and on location in Sheepshead Bay, Brooklyn over 39 days. Harris remembers, "There were five and six-page scenes we would shoot all at once. It was more like doing a play at times you'd get the continuity going". Alan Arkin said of the script, "What made it was the language and the rhythms, which are enormously difficult to absorb". During filming, members of the cast who were not required to be on the set certain days would show up anyway to watch the other actors' performances.

The film's director of photography, Juan Ruiz Anchía, relied on low lighting and shadows with a blues, greens and reds color scheme for the first part of the film. For the second half, he adhered to a monochromatic blue-grey color scheme. During the production, Tokofsky and Zupnik had a falling out over money and credit for the film. Tokofsky sued to strip Zupnik of his producer’s credit and share of the producer’s fee. Zupnik claimed that he personally put up $2 million of the film’s budget and countersued, claiming that Tokofsky was fired for embezzlement.

"Coffee is for closers" is a monologue written by David Mamet specifically for Alec Baldwin for inclusion in the film version—the scene is not part of Mamet's original play.

Reception

Glengarry Glen Ross had its world premiere at the Venice Film Festival where Jack Lemmon won the Volpi Cup for Best Actor. In addition, it was originally slated to be shown at the Montreal Film Festival but it was necessary to show it out of competition because it was entered into competition at the Venice Film Festival at the same time. Instead, it was given its North American premiere at the Toronto Film Festival. The film opened in wide release on October 2, 1992 in 416 theaters, grossing $2.1 million on its opening weekend. It went on to make $10.7 million in North America, just below its $12.5 million budget.

Reviews were highly positive. The film currently has a rating of 96% on Rotten Tomatoes and a metascore of 80 on Metacritic. Owen Gleiberman gave the film an "A" rating in his review for Entertainment Weekly magazine, praising Lemmon's performance as "a revelation" and describing his character as "the weaselly soul of Glengarry Glen Ross–Willy Loman turned into a one-liner". Peter Travers gave the film his highest rating in Rolling Stone magazine and wrote, "The pleasure of this unique film comes in watching superb actors dine on Mamet's pungent language like the feast it is". In his review in the Chicago Sun-Times, Roger Ebert wrote, "Mamet's dialogue has a kind of logic, a cadence, that allows people to arrive in triumph at the ends of sentences we could not possibly have imagined. There is great energy in it. You can see the joy with which these actors get their teeth into these great lines, after living through movies in which flat dialogue serves only to advance the story". Newsweek magazine's Jack Kroll observed of Alec Baldwin's performance, "Baldwin is sleekly sinister in the role of Blake, a troubleshooter called in to shake up the salesmen. He shakes them up, all right, but this character (not in the original play) also shakes up the movie's toned balance with his sheer noise and scatological fury". In his review for The New York Times, Vincent Canby praised, "the utterly demonic skill with which these foulmouthed characters carve one another up in futile attempts to stave off disaster. It's also because of the breathtaking wizardry with which Mr. Mamet and Mr. Foley have made a vivid, living film that preserves the claustrophobic nature of the original stage work". In his review for Time, Richard Corliss wrote, "A peerless ensemble of actors fills Glengarry Glen Ross with audible glares and shudders. The play was zippy black comedy about predators in twilight; the film is a photo-essay, shot in morgue closeup, about the difficulty most people have convincing themselves that what they do matters". However, Desson Howe's review in the Washington Post criticized Foley's direction, writing that it "doesn't add much more than the street between. If his intention is to create a sense of claustrophobia, he also creates the (presumably) unwanted effect of a soundstage. There is no evidence of life outside the immediate world of the movie".

Jack Lemmon was voted Best Actor by the National Board of Review. Al Pacino was nominated for a Golden Globe for Best Supporting Actor but did not win. He was also nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role but failed to win; the same year he was nominated and won the Best Actor Oscar for Scent of a Woman. Empire magazine voted the film the 470th greatest film in their "500 Greatest Movies of All Time" list. Not a box office hit, Glengarry Glen Ross is considered to be a cult film.

Parody

Lemmon's portrayal of Shelley Levene was a major source of inspiration in the creation of the recurring The Simpsons character Gil Gunderson. The character had a Simpsons' Christmas Special episode dedicated to him in "Kill Gil, Volumes I & II". The character borrows many of the twitchy, nervous mannerisms of the Lemmon character, and is often portrayed in a desperate situation as an unsuccessful salesman.

Alec Baldwin spoofed his role as Blake during a skit on an episode of Saturday Night Live in December 2005. Baldwin played the role of "Winter's Breath", an Elf sent by Santa to a toy workshop. The Elves that work in the workshop have inadequate tools to build toys with, and have begun complaining. Baldwin attempts to motivate them with a contest in which first prize is "A shiny new toboggan", second prize is a box of candy canes, and "third prize is you're fired". He tells the elves that "Santa paid good money for your tools" and they should "Always Be Cobbling"—at one point he gives the actual line from the film "Always Be Closing", to audience applause. He then teases the elves by showing off brand new Glengarry-brand power tools.

References

^ Glengarry Glen Ross at Box Office Mojo
According to Ed Harris, while being interviewed on Inside the Actors Studio. Season 7. Episode 6. 2000-12-17. {{cite episode}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |episodelink= (help); Unknown parameter |serieslink= ignored (|series-link= suggested) (help)
^ Weinraub, Bernard (October 12, 1992). "The Glengarry Math: Add Money and Stars, then Subtract Ego". The New York Times. Retrieved 2010-03-31. {{cite news}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
^ Blanchard, Jayne M (September 27, 1992). "Glengarry Hits the Screen with the Joys of Male Angst". Washington Times. {{cite news}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
Hartl, John (September 28, 1992). "Director is Happy to put Big Stars in Film Version of Mamet Play". Seattle Times. {{cite news}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
^ "Glengarry Glen Ross Production Notes". New Line Cinema Press Kit. 1992. {{cite news}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
Berardinelli, James (2006). "Glengarry Glen Ross". ReelViews. Retrieved 2007-09-23. {{cite news}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
^ Powers, William F (October 4, 1992). "Pacino, Mamet and . . . Zupnik; Who? The Local Real Estate Mogul Behind Glengarry". Washington Post. {{cite news}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
Clark, Jennifer (July 31, 1992). "Three U.S. entries sign on at 49th Venice Fest". Variety. {{cite news}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
Adilman, Sid (September 1, 1992). "Festivals scrap over movie". Toronto Star. {{cite news}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
"Glengarry Glen Ross". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved 2007-04-17. {{cite news}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
Gleiberman, Owen (October 9, 1992). "Pros and Cons". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved 2007-04-17. {{cite news}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
Travers, Peter (December 8, 2000). "Glengarry Glen Ross". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 2011-03-10. {{cite news}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
Ebert, Roger (October 2, 1992). "Glengarry Glen Ross". Chicago Sun-Times. Retrieved 2007-04-17. {{cite news}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
Kroll, Jack (October 5, 1992). "Heels, Heroes and Hustlers". Newsweek. Retrieved 2010-03-31. {{cite news}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
Canby, Vincent (September 30, 1992). "Mamet's Real Estate Sharks and Their Prey". The New York Times. Retrieved 2007-04-17. {{cite news}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
Corliss, Richard (October 12, 1992). "Sweating Out Loud". Time. Retrieved 2008-08-21. {{cite news}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
^ Howe, Desson (October 2, 1992). "Glengarry Glen Ross". Washington Post. Retrieved 2007-04-17. {{cite news}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help) Cite error: The named reference "Howe, Desson" was defined multiple times with different content (see the help page).
Benson, Jim (December 30, 1992). "Globes Nod to Men, Aladdin". Variety. {{cite news}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
Spillman, Susan (February 18, 1993). "Oscar's independent streak". USA Today. {{cite news}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
"500 Greatest Movies of All Time". Empire. Retrieved 2008-09-29. {{cite news}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
Tobias, Scott (March 18, 2010). "Glengarry Glen Ross". The Onion A.V. Club. Retrieved 2010-03-18. {{cite news}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
Scully, Mike (2006). Commentary for "Realty Bites", in The Simpsons: The Complete Ninth Season . 20th Century Fox.
Greaney, Dan (2006). Commentary for "Realty Bites", in The Simpsons: The Complete Ninth Season . 20th Century Fox.
http://www.metacafe.com/watch/hl-3889642/saturday_night_live_glengarry_glen_christmas_season_31/

External links

v t e Films directed by James Foley
Reckless (1984) At Close Range (1986) Who's That Girl (1987) After Dark, My Sweet (1990) Glengarry Glen Ross (1992) Two Bits (1995) Fear (1996) The Chamber (1996) The Corruptor (1999) Confidence (2003) Perfect Stranger (2007) Fifty Shades Darker (2017) Fifty Shades Freed (2018)

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