My feelings towards films that rely too much on their dialogue is somewhat ambiguous. I love films that can create meaning and story through their visuals, and don’t rely on dialogue to hammer in to the audience what it is about. Glengarry Glen Ross was based on a play written by David Mamet, and he himself wrote the film adaptation. It does come across that the film has its roots in theatre. There are only two major locations throughout most of the film, its dialogue heavy, and has a particular kind of dialogue. Still, the film works pretty well, and stands out as a somewhat underrated classic.
The premise is simple: A questionable real estate office isn’t doing as well as they would like to, and so the boss comes up with a contest to motivate his four salesmen. Earn the most, and you get a new car. Finish second and you get a neat bonus. Finish third and fourth and you get fired. The film takes place over just one night and one morning, so the tension is laid thick. There is a genuine sense of desperation and hopelessness which captures the spirit of the 90s. But what really makes this film stand out is the casting. Al Pacino, Jack Lemmon, Kevin Spacey, Alan Arkin, Ed Harris and Alec Baldwin. It’s a great cast, and everyone does their outmost to make their characters vivid. The stand out performance is Jack Lemmon. His character is pathetic, but has genuine concerns, still living on the memory of better days, and in his worst moment fooling himself into believing that he made a good sale. His character screams of both desperation and poignancy. Alec Baldwin has only one scene, but remains in the back of the audiences heads as he is the one that describes the contest, in a very intimidating scene. Spacey is also great, as the coldhearted manager who has little sympathy for his crew, but he also has some underlying issues of his own. Al Pacino steals every scene he is in with his mesmerizing intensity. It’s not just about the casting though, the script is excellent, and every character has several layers. The film slowly peels away at the characters and in the end everyone is left naked and exposed.
One of the reasons I don’t like “talky” films is that they have a tendency to spell out what the characters are thinking and what’s going on. Glengarry Glen Ross elegantly avoids this; every character has something to hide. The film is smart in quickly telling us what’s at stake, so that the characters and their underlying issues and concerns can be revealed effortlessly. The film also keeps the audience guessing until the end. Most of the film is shown in real time, but there is a clever jump between night and day. During these hours where we, the audience, have not been present there have been some significant story developments, but we were not able to see them. This creates a great moment where we can guess and speculate what happened and who did what, where everything is not what it seems. Although there is a lot of dialogue in the film, everything that the characters say is significant and the film doesn’t seem bloated with dialogue. Indeed, the director managed to create some significance through the visuals, and the cinematography is beautiful, expertly using colors and angles to create meaning. So while the film has a lot of dialogue, it doesn’t always rely on it to tell the story, and thus becomes more interesting. I think this is one of the more successful transitions from theatre to cinema.
I wasn’t quite sure what to expect from Glengarry Glen Ross, but I was captivated throughout the film, with the interesting characters and the fascinating setting. The film builds up well and towards the end is intense, although it is still low-key. Many will talk about the excellent cast, but it’s all about the brilliant script, which they really do justice to. It’s quite incredible how the script gets so much out of so little, and stands as a fine example of intricate screenwriting and filmmaking.
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