The other night, E and I sat down to an old favorite, Glengarry Glen Ross. Watch it once for the David Mamet script and laugh at the large helpings of profanity and verbal abuse the characters heap upon one another. Watch it again to see it for the fascinating study of human nature that it is. And to think it almost didn't get made, despite the cast list - Al Pacino, Jack Lemmon, Kevin Spacey, Ed Harris, Alan Arkin, and Jonathan Harris. It took five years to get funding because the film contained no sex or (physical) violence.
I don't want to spoil it, but I just have to comment about the ultimate outcome of the sales contest that was part of the basis of the film (Highlight the area below for SPOILERS):
SPOILER (Don't say I didn't warn you!)
The four workers are given an ultimatum by their employers. There's a sales contest where whoever comes in fourth place will be fired. Ricky Roma (Pacino) is the top salesman on the board. He's on a streak and in no danger. Moss (Harris) is a distant second, and conspires to steal the company's premium leads and sell them to a competitor. He tries to enlist Aaronow (Arkin), a milquetoast at the bottom of the board, to help him. The last salesman, Shelley Levine (Lemmon) isn't even on the board. He struggles between his financial problems and denying the fact that he's a has-been.
At the end of the movie, you can clearly infer that both Moss and Levine are eliminated from the "dog eat dog" contest (i.e. life) because of their choices. This leaves the positions of the lucky/skilled/talented Roma and the weak milquetoast Aaronow - who, despite his utter lack of sales performance, is able to continue on - intact.
END SPOILER
I don't want to spoil it, but I just have to comment about the ultimate outcome of the sales contest that was part of the basis of the film (Highlight the area below for SPOILERS):
SPOILER (Don't say I didn't warn you!)
The four workers are given an ultimatum by their employers. There's a sales contest where whoever comes in fourth place will be fired. Ricky Roma (Pacino) is the top salesman on the board. He's on a streak and in no danger. Moss (Harris) is a distant second, and conspires to steal the company's premium leads and sell them to a competitor. He tries to enlist Aaronow (Arkin), a milquetoast at the bottom of the board, to help him. The last salesman, Shelley Levine (Lemmon) isn't even on the board. He struggles between his financial problems and denying the fact that he's a has-been.
At the end of the movie, you can clearly infer that both Moss and Levine are eliminated from the "dog eat dog" contest (i.e. life) because of their choices. This leaves the positions of the lucky/skilled/talented Roma and the weak milquetoast Aaronow - who, despite his utter lack of sales performance, is able to continue on - intact.
END SPOILER
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