In today's marketplace of cutthroat competition, the bottom line is all that matters. If you don't perform, you're out on the street. In order to survive in this dog-eat-dog environment, many individuals have to give in to their worst instincts. Those are the assumptions hammered home in the riveting screen adaptation of David Mamet's Pulitzer Prize-winning play Glengarry Glen Ross. This is one of the most powerful and convincing films ever made about the manifold ways the human spirit is violated in the workplace.
The salesmen in a small real estate office are told by a hot shot motivator (Alec Baldwin) that a new contest will be held to boost sales. The winner will get a Cadillac, second prize will be a set of steak knives, and those coming in third or lower will be fired.
This aggressive and abusive approach does little to raise the confidence of the dejected salesmen. They are all upset about the stale prospects list the downtown office has supplied. Shelley Levine (Jack Lemmon), in his late 50s, can't get his old rhythm back. He's desperate enough to bribe the office manager (Kevin Spacey) into giving him more leads. Anger animates Dave Moss (Ed Harris) who blames management for his lack of sales. And George Aaronow (Alan Arkin) blames himself. He just can't seem to get in the groove. The only real success in the office is Ricky Roma (Al Pacino) who prides himself on his communication skills. He uses every trick in the book to make a sale, and it doesn't matter at all--to him or to anyone else in the office-that the properties are mainly wetlands.
"We are spiritually bankrupt -- that's what's wrong with this country," David Mamet said in an interview about his play. "We don't take Sundays off. We don't pray. We don't regenerate our spirit. These things aren't luxuries, they're necessities for humankind, for modern men and women, just as they were for ancient men and women. The spirit has to be replenished. There has to be time for reflection, introspection, and a certain amount of awe and wonder. There are certain things we need to survive -- food, shelter, and spiritual security. We can't get along without it. But we've become so materialistic, so avaricious, that our capacity for love has become injured."
In Glengarry Glen Ross, Mamet depicts the avariciousness of capitalism. Management spits on these salesmen who spit on each other while they're spitting on their clients. The foul-mouthed bravado of these men doesn't dispel the bitter knowledge of their own powerlessness. Mamet is a modern day prophet whose truths about the workplace deserve to be heard and heeded. This top-drawer cast directed by James Foley is just the right team to deliver the message with urgency and conviction.