Not sure where to post this but this is one of my fav movies. Love Mamet (even though some say he is overbearing..). Spacey, Pacino and Lemmon are terrific. Alec Baldwins second best role ( not saying much but it shows what he "was" capable of).I found this discussion on the dvd release.

Glengarry GlenRoss
7 November

Ever since the DVD format has come out, fans have been ranting and raving about releases not currently on the slate. Back to the Future was a big issue until they finally announced it for a December release this year, and
Indiana Jones and the original Star Wars trilogy have yet to see official DVD releases. Up until this month, their was one other unavailable DVD too.Glengarry GlenRoss. Celebrating it's 10th Anniversary this year, the movie
finally gets a blazing-hot special edition release from Artisan. Unlike the Reservoir Dogs slight fiasco, everything is handled extremely nice on this disc to make it a definite for the collection.

It's surprising that Glengarry GlenRoss has remained below the radar as far as pop culture is concerned, seeing as how the movie is packed with so many stars. Jack Lemmon and Al Pacino are the highlights, but Ed Harris, Kevin Spacey and Jonathan Pryce all throw their entire collective force into the various roles, making the movie a simple joy to behold. It's a tragedy on many levels, but not one that is so dark that it makes to want to just die right there (ahem, Brazil, ahem). Instead, it's an overall sad story of a
few down-on-the-luck losers who can't catch a break and just get more bad things piled of, but the story has plenty of moments of jubilance and poignancy. The film only revolves are maybe two to three revelations or big
occurrences in the plot, and the rest of the thrills come from the emotional rollercoaster resulting from several big name actors duking it out in a very small space. It's not a battle for acting supremacy, but rather each actor at their best playing their part to max efficiency; meaning everyone has a chance to shine. Glengarry GlenRoss may have gone undetected so far except from the artsy film crowd, but I hope this excellent DVD release and cast of stars will draw more people into the fold.

Although Ross the movie was made in the early 90's, it's mentality is permanently stuck in the 80's. The main themes of the movie should be familiar to anyone who remembers a thing about the decade; it's all about money, power and respect. Although Shelly Leverne (Lemmon) has seen far
better days as a shady real estate salesman, he still has the dignity to keep trudging on and claim it as a streak of bad luck. His two cohorts, Dave Moss and George Aaronow are in the same bind, with nothing but bad leads coming in and no way to dig themselves out of the pit they've got themselves in. Add up the fact that Mitch and Murray, the real estate company, wants to weed out the unproductive apples, and you have a story that has built in components of fear and anger at the risk of being fired. Shelly is old and obviously nearing retirement age, which makes him naturally an easy target for the corporate heads to take a shot at firing. He forged new techniques and made plenty of money during his younger years, but as he's grown older,
his demeanor has simply become less menacing. His younger former apprentice, Rick Rova (Pacino) has the level of fire that Lemmon did in his younger days, and is one of the few people who still highly respects Leverne around
the office. This is one of the many contradictions in a story absolutely packed with them. Because Rova is initially shown to us as the symbol of a successful salesman, we assume he's a prick and that he should be our new enemy while we root for the lower guys. What we learn is that he's a nice guy, just extremely good at his job. Their industry is a complete scam, so it's hard to call anyone who works as a salesmen in Ross a 'nice guy', but
at least Rova treats Leverne nicely. By principle all of the workers shown to us in Ross should be considered scumbags, but because they're down on their luck, we at least feel sympathy for them. The story plays the sad card
without overusing it. It's sort of implied that Shelly's daughter is in the hospital with some major disease, and will be kicked out if the bills aren't paid. Now if this were a major Hollywood blockbuster, we'd get an emotional
pan-in as Shelly begs his boss that he needs the money to pay for his sick daughter. The fact that his daughter is sick gets around thirty seconds of time in the movie, and only one time is mentioned between Shelly and another
co-worker. Less emotional pimping means a more involving story, although I'm sure some will be confused why that part wasn't played on more. The writing and dialog reach sublime levels, thanks to the help of master auteur David
Mamet's screenplay skills. It would seem that a lot of the movie involves simply yelling loudly back and forth, but there's many more subtle layers of writing, backstory and emotion to it. I thought it interesting how the dreary scenery outside (where it's constantly pouring), coupled with 75% of the movie being night scenes helped to make the film give off an aura of being classic noir. It's not a traditional noir tale, but definitely pays some homage to a classic genre. It's fascinating how such a dramatic and
moving film can be created about a topic we know nothing about. When I'm done watching Glengarry GlenRoss, I think I know the lingo used in the real estate business, but I still think I know nothing about the practice itself.
How does a movie weave such an interesting story while feeding viewers just barely enough to comprehend what's going on?

Great acting, that's how. and the movie is full of it. I, along with many other viewers no doubt, have always associated Lemmon with classic comedy roles. Even if he played a dramatic role, he brought the same warmth and
sympathetic feeling to the role. Here, he gets to spit acid venom and really tear loose with some good anger scenes, and it's impressive. Al Pacino has made a career for himself out of roles that require intensity, and this
movie is of course no different. I've always been on the fence about Kevin Spacey and Ed Harris, but even they hit home runs here as far as acting is concerned. Subtle shades of character all over, varying line delivery and an
overall coolness that keeps the viewer riveted. Combined with a gold storyline it makes Glengarry GlenRoss an irresistible treat and a movie I hope everyone decides to see now.

The extras are not as packed as some of the top-of-the-line Special Editions, but I think viewers will agree that Glengarry GlenRoss is quality over quantity. Basically, everything is covered that you would ever need to
know. Starting off is an audio commentary by director James Foley, which is spent on the usual recounting of backstage stories and performances, and is fairly interesting for his segments where he talks about Lemmon. As a Lemmon
fan, I was very interested to hear some of the famous actor's techniques and stylistic devices he tries to use for every movie. The other extra on Disc One would be a half hour long 'Tribute to Jack Lemmon', a great documentary/featurette that sometimes panders a bit too much for sentimentality's sake, but often feels fresh. It ended up just making me sadder that such a genius passed away though, although some of the stories told here are great to hear. The feature caps off with a segment of Jack
Lemmon being interviewed, giving a nice bookend feeling to it.

On to Disc
Two, we get a Full Screen version of the film (space hogger!), and even worse, an 'exclusive set of audio interviews' that play as a commentary over the Full Screen version. There's a Play All feature though, since each
segment only lasts a few minutes. but still, why not just make the audio interviews into video interviews, or just make them play over some static background? Those are only a few interviews with the cast though, the biggest two extras would be the original documentary created for the
release, "ABC: Always Be Closing", a long and fascinating look at real life salesmen and how they cope. Props to the documentary makes for highlighting the film Salesmen as one of the biggest events in changing the perception of
salesmen. I thought maybe just Criterion junkies knew of the movie's charm. The other larger feature 'J. Roy: New and Used Furniture' is a documentary one of the first really successful salesmen, and while it was interesting, I
found it less interesting than the original documentary Artisan made. The motivational phrases he first thinks up (many known well today by self-motivational speakers) are genius, and he's certainly an interesting
topic. I just don't feel the line is drawn clearly enough from Ross to J. Roy. Umm, one's a movie about salesmen, and the other one's a salesmen. get it? More interesting, but shorter, were the clip segments from the Charlie
Rose Show and Inside the Actor's Studio. The Actor's Studio clip is only around two minutes long, but extremely funny. if only to see what an embarrassed Kevin Spacey looks like. A college student challenges Spacey to an improve reading of a segment of Ross, which he agrees to. Laughter
ensues. The Charlie Rose segment is with Jack Lemmon, and it while they tried to pick the times where the movie comes into the discussion, it's a very well-rounded interview of Lemmon on his career, and not just this movie. The usual assortment of Cast and Crew bios and filmographies wrap
things up. If there was anything missing at all, I'd say (and I know this is impossible because the Simpsons belong to Fox) that if there were any way to include the episode of The Simpsons where Marge becomes a real estate
week. Even with other studios bringing out 'The Big Guns', I hope this release sees the fame it deserves.
[This message was edited Sun Nov 17 10:05:00 PST 2002 by rdhull]

This is a great film. I want to collect all of Al Pacino's movies on DVD ! So far I only have Dog Day Afternoon. but I will get there.

I love this movie. Baldwin was great!:

2the9s said:

I love that.."put that coffee down! Coffe is for closers!" etc. His little screen time was so perfect. "This watch costs more than your car-house" lol.

"Coffee is for closers!" hahah totally classic!

Teriffic RD Hull . I saw the play now I can watch this on DVD. Great.

Is RD the guy with the best taste on this whole site???
Glengarry is one of those films I love because its just like a Theatre production. It just hooks you and pulls you in and makes you feel like you're in there with the actors.
Aweswome acting and just a great movie.

Its weird that you posted this. I was just recomending to this SALESMAN friend to see it.

What I just said was "With an all star cast and Pacino as the ultimate salesman, you have to see this fucking movie".

Jack Lemmon is equally amazing in this flick too. I wish I could see the theatre version, the movie is one of my favs.

great movie.

already have the se laserdisc & have already pre-ordered the se dvd

rdhull said:

Signature idea!

I truly Enjoyed the Film.Alec Baldwin,Jack Lemon stole the Film IMHO.Spacey was pretty good.Pacino was Alright In this Film.I Like His 70's Stuff better overall&of course "Scarface".Hit&Miss since the 80's with Pacino.I have too get stuff on DVD.I got quite a few of His Films on VHS.this Film did alot for Alec Baldwin IMHO.because He doesn't really bring it on the Big Screen overall IMHO.but He was solid in this film.

Sounds good. Im going to go out buy it.

I just love how it portrays men at the end of their employment and financial rope..how they have to make good right now or else. I worked at Circuit City once (not real estate but still)..you know how when you work in sales of any genre its "close the goddamn deal" or else you arent the bosses favorite etc..and you notice that those who are the best are the smarmiest characters. They have that spiel down pat.."you want the extended warranty? Let me tell ya why you need this ..this model here is a step up if you want what your looking for..you want a picure tube with that television?" etc. Well these guys livelihood is on the line in the movie. Mitch and Murray aint bullshittin anymore. The desperation they must feel. Pacinos' rasp and cussing is simply a pleasure..Ed Harris , Spaceys punk assedness (huh?), and that fella that Rick (Pacino) sold a worthless lot to, coming in the next morning...damn. These are some sorrowful situations to watch and wonderful diaglogue to hear flow effortlessly.

This is one of my favourite movies. Al is great and Jack Lemmon is/was such an amazing actor. The entire cast was at their absolute best in this movie. It's too bad that Jack is no longer with us. He made some terrific movies, like the Apartment, days of wine and roses. the odd couple and the grumpy old men movies were great because not only was Jack in them so was Walter Matthau who was also one of the greatest actors we've ever had. ABC folks!!