Following the announcement that all salesmen will be fired at the end of the week, except two, who will achieve a high target, Shelley Leven, a miserable man who keeps his sick daughter, as he does his best to achieve the target.
David Mamet's play about the wheelings and dealings of real-estate salesmen gets dedicated playing from a splendid cast, but gains nothing by the transfer from stage to screen.
Mamet reveals his exceptional talent for writing almost poetic working-class vernacular, scores his major implicit thematic thrusts against the nature of the way business-at-large is conducted.
Reel Film Reviews
July 06, 2010
...the most effective big-screen translation of a Mamet stage play.
Though the performances are satisfying in a projected way, they're nullified by an uninspired atmosphere around them. Despite the colorful and witty utterances of its characters, "Glengarry" feels artificial and rarefied.
Foley is as adept at managing this intensely psychodramatic material as he is handling an ensemble cast with the combined power of a runaway locomotive.
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.
Mamet has a special gift for drawing portriats of lowlifers who are harsh but also funny, his salesmen are a far cry from Arthur Miller's Loman in Death of a Salesman.