Glengarry Glen Ross ( * * * * * )
"A.B.C. A--Always. B--Be. C--Closing. Always be closing. 'Always be closing'." And so we come to number three on the Tredekka Top Ten, which fortunately is more forgiving than the company run by Mitch and Murray, because third prize isn't "you're fired." Third prize is, what an unbelievably kick-ass movie.
The Acting: Lemmon, Pacino, Baldwin, Arkin, Spacey, Harris, Pryce. When I saw the trailer for this I joked, "If only they had a good cast I might go and see it." But I didn't even see it until it came to video. My friend Eric called me and said, "There's a movie I think you should see."
The Story: a group of salesman are told in harsh terms by Alec Baldwin that the sales contest has changed this month--first prize is a Cadillac Eldorado. Second prize is a set of steak knives. Everyone else gets fired, which looks ugly for Alan Arkin's character, who has only $2000 on the "Cadillac Board" and especially for Jack Lemmon, who's on a cold streak. Meanwhile, Al Pacino redefines the soft sell by getting a stranger drunk in a bar and pretending to philosophize about life for a couple of hours, softening him up for the eventual sales pitch. Ed Harris, who is a perpetual motion device of fury as Dave Moss, hatches a scheme to rob the office and sell the premium Glengarry leads to Jerry Graff "across the street." And Kevin Spacey makes a name for himself acting as browbeaten office manager John Williamson, who costars in two or three of the best character dialogue duets I've ever seen.
The Direction: There was a brief but dark period of Hollywood cinema where volcano movies started to come out of the woodworks, but none can match the explosive fury of James Foley directing Al Pacino's rage after a sale is shot by an errant remark by Williamson, who gets called by Al and Jack Lemmon everything from fairy, company man, child, cocksucker, whitebread, scum and asshole in a riveting pair of scenes that cap a fucking brilliant movie.
Overall: It's odd, but I think this may be the only movie I've seen where no one is likeable yet everyone is loveable. Did I mention the play won a Pulitzer Prize? But it should've won a Nobel Prize, because Alfred Nobel invented dynamite.
Tredekka Rules:
The Acting: Lemmon, Pacino, Baldwin, Arkin, Spacey, Harris, Pryce. When I saw the trailer for this I joked, "If only they had a good cast I might go and see it." But I didn't even see it until it came to video. My friend Eric called me and said, "There's a movie I think you should see."
The Story: a group of salesman are told in harsh terms by Alec Baldwin that the sales contest has changed this month--first prize is a Cadillac Eldorado. Second prize is a set of steak knives. Everyone else gets fired, which looks ugly for Alan Arkin's character, who has only $2000 on the "Cadillac Board" and especially for Jack Lemmon, who's on a cold streak. Meanwhile, Al Pacino redefines the soft sell by getting a stranger drunk in a bar and pretending to philosophize about life for a couple of hours, softening him up for the eventual sales pitch. Ed Harris, who is a perpetual motion device of fury as Dave Moss, hatches a scheme to rob the office and sell the premium Glengarry leads to Jerry Graff "across the street." And Kevin Spacey makes a name for himself acting as browbeaten office manager John Williamson, who costars in two or three of the best character dialogue duets I've ever seen.
The Direction: There was a brief but dark period of Hollywood cinema where volcano movies started to come out of the woodworks, but none can match the explosive fury of James Foley directing Al Pacino's rage after a sale is shot by an errant remark by Williamson, who gets called by Al and Jack Lemmon everything from fairy, company man, child, cocksucker, whitebread, scum and asshole in a riveting pair of scenes that cap a fucking brilliant movie.
Overall: It's odd, but I think this may be the only movie I've seen where no one is likeable yet everyone is loveable. Did I mention the play won a Pulitzer Prize? But it should've won a Nobel Prize, because Alfred Nobel invented dynamite.
Tredekka Rules:
- Rule 1: No Movie Can Get More Than 5 Stars, Not Even Deadfall. Or Glengarry Glen Ross.
- Rule 4: Sweet Actor Bonus--Alec Baldwin, +1 star--Kevin Spacey, +1 star.
- Rule 5: Spitting = Good Acting--yes, there's one droplet--I can award it! Ha ha ha! +1 star.
- Rule 6: Over The Top Acting Award--if I could, I would give +5 stars each to Spacey, Lemmon, Pacino, Baldwin, and Harris. But I'll have to settle for +1 star each instead.
- Rule 12: Dodged The Pretentious Bullet Award--the robbery mid-film really shakes things up, and suddenly the movie you think you're watching becomes a different, even better, movie. I love it. +1 star.
- Rule 22: The Great Entrance Award--"Put that coffee DOWN!" +1 star to Alec Baldwin.
- Rule 23: Master And Command Your Title, Stupid--pretty hard to remember, so -1 star. By the way, if I'd ever reviewed Master And Commander: The Far Side of the World, it probably would get -1 star from this rule, too. Probably.
Tredekka Score: ( * * * * * )
posted by Tredekka at 10:31 AM
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