As you know, Glengarry Glen Ross is the greatest movie ever made. Everything about it, from the cast to the set design to the cinematography, is God tier filmmaking. Scarcely a minute goes by without a quotable line, and it's in the rare category of movies I can watch over and over, along with The Shining, Starship Troopers, and Event Horizon.
Today, however, I draw your attention to some of the small things that make this the greatest movie ever. I will spoil the ending of the movie and I advise you not to read this unless you have watched it several times.
Today, however, I draw your attention to some of the small things that make this the greatest movie ever. I will spoil the ending of the movie and I advise you not to read this unless you have watched it several times.
"Have you made your decision for Christ?"
Alec Baldwin's speech is the most famous part of the movie, and this is the best part of it. The ever circling camera comes in to a low angle closeup and he gets a manic gleam in his eye as he delivers this line that comes out of nowhere and has nothing to do with the rest of the film. It casts the rest of the speech in the terms of a revival preacher or some shit, making the whole thing even better than it ever was.
Some people think the line was supposed to be "for Christ's sake" or something like that, but it's so much better this way, like at any moment he's going to reach into the case he keeps his brass balls in and whip out a fucking snake.
Some people think the line was supposed to be "for Christ's sake" or something like that, but it's so much better this way, like at any moment he's going to reach into the case he keeps his brass balls in and whip out a fucking snake.
Alec Baldwin holds the new leads with his fingertips
I love how Baldwin holds the leads like they're so precious he doesn't want to smudge them or something. He's holding them so daintily here while he bitches everyone out for their alleged incompetence, and then he hands them over his shoulder to Williamson, who doesn't even give a shit. This is something a lot of people don't appreciate about the film: Alec Baldwin is fucking insane, and is therefore perfectly cast in the role of Fuck You.
Levene's shoulder mount thing for his phone
While everyone else tends to lean forward on the phone, Levene likes to sit back and play with his glasses with both hands, letting this shoulder mounted clip hang onto the phone for him. This is the kind of attention to detail you don't get in most films, least of all mine. I have no idea if this was a common thing back in the golden era of the 1990s, when men were men and cellphones were the size of midgets, but it is awesome and I want to be a down-on-my-luck salesman in the early 90s just so I can have one.
The good cop
The main cop character is obviously the bad cop - he tries to boss everyone in the office around, and his partner (who has no lines) sits on the side of the office with Moss, who disregards him entirely. If there were only one cop it wouldn't be nearly as funny, but the fact that our main guy is the bad cop and is so totally ineffectual is brilliant.
"Anybody talks to this asshole is a fuckin' asshole"
In a movie so full of eloquent one-liners that make Shakespeare sound like a /b/tard, this is a hilarious little moment of reality where Moss can't think of another word for "asshole", so he says it twice. Hey, coming up with Mamet-esque dialogue all day is tiring work.
Roma sticks his gum under the desk like a kid
This is another endearing little moment when Roma sees Lingk coming and quickly makes up a story to throw him off. He realises he's been chewing gum and quickly sticks it under his desk. I like to think this sort of situation comes up every other day and the underside of his desk is covered in gum. I like the association with school days that this image conjures up, because, as we know, Roma is the John Bender of this movie.
"You saw my book!"
In the scene where Roma is bullshitting Lingk to get his dubious sale to stick, this little detail adds a lot to the improvisatory nature of his spiel. He's trying to tell Lingk he's too busy to speak to him right now, so he flashes a diary, which on closer inspection is near empty. It only has two lines written in it. If Lingk weren't such a pussy he could totally call Roma out on this, but he's the Jeb Bush of this film, so he doesn't.
Williamson chews gum
I like how Williamson chews gum at the end of the movie. Roma famously tells Moss "let me buy you a pack of gum, I'll show you how to chew it". I like to think Williamson chews gum because Roma already bullied him to tears over it. Williamson clearly pounces on the opportunity to fuck Levene at the end because every minute of every day of his life is spent being someone else's bitch.
I want to see a sequel where the two remaining salesmen on the team, Roma and Aaronow, give Williamson shit for two hours. Maybe Levene was right when he said Williamson would miss him. Or maybe I'm reading too much into the gum. Then again, people said that about Twin Peaks.
I want to see a sequel where the two remaining salesmen on the team, Roma and Aaronow, give Williamson shit for two hours. Maybe Levene was right when he said Williamson would miss him. Or maybe I'm reading too much into the gum. Then again, people said that about Twin Peaks.
