This is one of those films where it doesn't really matter what the story is, or even if there is one, because you are immediately and continuously enthralled by the outright skill of the cast. Here, though, David Mamet has adapted his own play for the screen, the result being a blend of Arthur Miller tragedy, Eugene O'Neill pathos, and a little Tennessee Williams thrown in for flavour. I felt as though I were being granted a coveted privilege of watching the iconic Jack Lemmon as the past-his-prime salesman, and the dynamo Al Pacino as the young hard-driving "comer," interact at their unbridled best. Either of them would have totally overshadowed a weaker counterpart. Kevin Spacey plays the cold, self-interested office manager to the hilt. I'm sure James Foley was criticized for "filming a stage production," but I say he did exactly the right thing to leave this Hall of Fame cast to bounce off each other and Mamet's story with minimal interference and no gimmicks. This movie is 100 minutes well spent: you won't soon forget it.
Review of Glengarry Glen Ross
