Glenngary Glenn Ross is an excellent adaptation. The story translates to the silver screen almost seamlessly. Every aspect of the production mirrors the quality of presentation one would expect from a Broadway performance. On a technical level, the editing is near perfect; capturing the reality of the actors performances while hiding even minor levels of distraction and unnatural flow that a camera brings to actors. Akira Kurosawa (Seven Samurai) would use multiple cameras in dialogue and heavily expressive scenes.

His intent in films such as Yojimbo is to provide a level of natural integration as to encourage more method acting from his players, much in the same way multiple cameras are often used in Glenn Gary. The evidence is in the unrestrained ‘spill your guts’ monologues. The photography is as well similarly suited. Juan Anchia (the film’s director of photography) uses low lighting with strong primary colours in the film’s first half and then later adheres to a strict blue and grey monochromatic tone. Stylistically this coincides with the film’s themes.

Thematically, Glenn Gary is a very complex piece; it draws together the definitive salesman and presents them with true control over either a very moral or very immoral action. Each salesman that the film follows are channels of everyday American hardships; for instance, Shelley worries over his daughters financial needs throughout the film. He is the struggling family man and acts as a stark contrast to one other salesman whom he finds is most like himself; Roma is aggressive but stoic. Through each characters specific conflict or perhaps in the case of Aaronow lack of conflict, we can witness (by in part the excellent editing that juxtaposes each character with a piece of the environment like a bar or an alley) how this group of men come to define their life’s work as well as one another’s life work or struggles.

Embracing its theatre roots, director Foley has done little to expand upon the play’s settings; it takes place in an office and a restaurant, and though the locations as well as the photographic depiction of them add to a sense of loneliness and banality that permeates the characters lives, they can be ultimately boring. The Mamet dialogue is so strong and natural it needs to be visualized as well as integrated into a scene that involves people other than principals.. Extras would have done wonders to illuminate the salesman in a more realistic and acceptable light but as they are shown they appear like stage actors, their world  restricted to an office and a restaurant and so we can only imagine each conflict that arises in these more restricted locations with these characters. The Director chose to remain true to the play and this does not always work on film. I wanted to see more of the conflict play out visually. The film’s performances save it from being a snooze; Pacino and Lemon are veterans, their characters actions seem real and their motivation so natural.

As difficult as Roma’s character is, it is so easily misconstrued and his stoicism little understood. Shelley is in the same way a performance to be noted as Lemon’s character is the least morally conflicted, although he faces the greatest physical conflict of any of the salesman. In fact it is Shelley who really only holds life or death ahead of him, the other salesman can be seen as so many rats among the race. This makes the tragedy of the play/film so clear by showing the desperation of its characters alongside the darker side of the American dream.

Max Romano