Glengarry Glen Ross

Saw Glengarry Glen Ross, a dynamite film with an amazing ensemble cast about low-tier real estate salesmen pitted against each other in a sadistic competition.  It's written by David Mamet and has his signature, lyrical, rat-a-tat-and-another-tat dialogue which is really nice to listen to although not super naturalistic.  Although he only wrote it, this film has Mamet's fingerprints all over it.

Mamet writes mostly about the brutality of modern life.  This is on large display in this film.  The big guys from downtown show up to chew out the protagonists.  They insult them for their low sales numbers and then feed them worthless clients who have no money to buy land with.  They give the best clients to people who sell and the rich get richer and luck determines who rises.  The protagonists work far harder for their commissions and yearn for the days when they'll have it easy with the moneyed clients.  To top it off, their stoic and angry suffering is lionized by each other.  Manipulation and intimidation are strengths and weakness is akin to death.  We are made to feel pity for these angry men as they are squeezed between the dehumanization of bureaucratic capitalism and of toxic masculinity.

The dismal future of these men is on display in the character of Shelly Levine, oldest of the salesmen.  He calls folks up pretending to be VP of some real estate firm and adopts a folksy, old-timey manner of speech which sounds completely phony.  This may have worked once but his schtick is now tired and he reeks of desperation.  His final days will be spend in a desperate, downward spiral and his coworkers kid themselves that they will turn out differently.  The film focuses a lot on him and it is to drive home the cruelty and inhumanity of this foul-mouthed world.

The film is tragedy of course, but it's very brusk about it.  The film blusters along with the characters insulting one another, drinking booze, and trying to cheat clients.  You might feel  a little bit of the characters' pain but it's over so quick and the film hastens to reassure you that it didn't hurt so bad, that's just how it is, get over it.  This under-selling of the tragedy is supposed to make it more poignant, but it almost makes it disappear entirely.  See how popular it is among business-types.

I enjoyed the film but it's troubling and not entirely comfortable.  It's interesting and ambiguous however which makes it great fun to consider and think about.  It deserves its reputation.  A good film.