Glengarry Glen Ross is a 1992 independent 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 agents and how they become desperate when the corporate office sends a representative 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 actual 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, only making $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.
Cast
- Jack Lemmon as Shelley “The Machine” Levene: He is an older man, a once-successful and respected salesman who has recently fallen on hard times, and has not closed a big deal in a long time. Lemmon said of his character, “Shelly’s actions question where the morals and ethics are in America and how they have eroded in the quest for success”.
- Al Pacino as Ricky Roma: He is the most successful salesman in the office. He is ruthless, dishonest and immoral, but succeeds because he has a talent for figuring out a client’s weaknesses and crafting a pitch that will exploit those weaknesses.
- Ed Harris as Dave Moss: He is a big-mouthed salesman with big dreams and ambitions. Harris describes his character as “the kind of guy who, when anything’s wrong, it’s not him. Blames everybody else”.
- Alan Arkin as George Aaronow: He is an aging and nervous salesman with low self-esteem who lacks confidence and hope. Despite this, he means well.
- Kevin Spacey as John Williamson: He is the office manager. The salesmen despise Williamson, but need him because he is the one who hands out the sales leads. Spacey saw his character as “the catalyst for events, since people are either struggling for or against him”.
- Alec Baldwin as Blake: He is brought in by Mitch and Murray to motivate the salesmen in a ruthless manner; this character was created for the film and did not appear in the stage version.
- Jonathan Pryce as James Lingk: He is a timid, middle-aged man who becomes Roma’s latest client. Lingk is easily manipulated.
- Jude Ciccolella as the police detective.
- Bruce Altman has a brief role as an uninterested customer for Levene.