1992 may have had one of the greatest lines of dialogue with "You can't handle the truth" in A Few Good Men, but it had one of the all-time great monologues with the "Brass Balls" speech by Alec Baldwin in Glengarry Glen Ross. Based on the eponymous David Mamet Pulitzer Prize winning play released in 1984, at the height of Reaganomics (the rich got richer and the poor got poorer), it was seen as something of a pipe dream. The "Morning in America" campaign ad masked an out of control Wall Street business culture that sapped the money out of the working class, but no one recognized it because the overall economy was doing so well. Cut to the early '90s where voters ejected President Bush sr. over a crippling recession that saw unemployment hit nearly 20%, and suddenly this film seemed frighteningly realistic. And make no doubt about it, this is one of the saddest films of all-time, although not in explicit actions that happen to the characters.
When a motivational speaker comes to talk to an office of salesman that sells leads on real estate (they call him "Blake" in the credits, but I don't remember him ever giving that name; especially since a key line is when he rants "fuck you, that's my name!"), he says that whoever wins the new selling contest gets a Cadillac, but that everyone else will be fired. Shelley Levine (Jack Lemmon), a once legendary salesman in a horrible dry spell and with a daughter in the hospital, says "the leads are shit," but Blake says "The leads are shit? You're shit." Two other salesman Aaronow (Alan Arkin) and Moss (Ed Harris) go to a Chinese restaurant to discuss staging a burglary to steal the leads. The next day after the burglary Richard Roma (Al Pacino), by far the best salesman in the office who succeeds by honing in on his clients' insecurities, flips out at insinuations that he was the one who robbed the office. Levine, coming in flying high on a sale, accidentally lets slip that he was behind the robbery, and the manager Williamson (Kevin Spacey) rats him out, simply justifying it with "because I don't like you."
Surprisingly, if you can believe it, the "Brass Balls" speech wasn't in the original play (which, again, won the highest honor in literature). Alec Baldwin was pegged by Mamet to play Pacino's Roma, but he declined due to a busy schedule. Desperate to have him in the film in any capacity, they whipped up the scared straight monologue just for him. In and out in 8 minutes. Most people upon thinking of the film think of that monologue, but it should be noted that at least three legendary actors here are giving what can argued their best work. Pacino, already on the Mount Rushmore of Acting Pantheon for his work in everything from The Godfather to Dog Day Afternoon, taps into what he's best at: getting super pissy and swearing up a storm. His dialogue crackles like a wood fire. Bringing his usual intensity and colorful vernacular (here's a sample dialogue: You stupid fucking cunt. Hey, Williamson, I'm talking to you, shithead. You just cost me $6,000. Six thousand dollars, and one Cadillac. That's right. What are you going to do about it? What are you going to do about it, asshole? You're fucking shit. Where did you learn your trade, you stupid fucking cunt, you idiot? Who ever told you that you could work with men?"), he's nothing short of completely entertaining to watch. But there are also very subtle conversations, including how to he got used to the smell of shit on a train that has you as an audience member never questioning the sanity and validity of. Alec Baldwin continued the early '90s tradition of coming in guns blazing for a few minutes and leaving a lasting imprint (i.e. Anthony Hopkins, Jack Nicholson). I can't pretend it's not fantastic, just watch the 8 minute clip on Youtube to see what I mean. And Jack Lemmon, who built a career on Billy Wilder comedies, crafts a figure so tragic that he makes Willy Loman in "Death of a Salesman" (an obvious inspiration) look like Gordon Gecko in Wall Street.
What's holding me back from giving this film the hallowed four star perfection rating? It doesn't have any rewatchability factor. Though the dialogue is fired off with the force of a machine gun, all the characters are so overwhelmingly depressing, if not outright pathetic, it's hard to watch them go through the hardships they face even the first time around. Especially in the case of Jack Lemmon's Shelley Levine. When he accidentally gives away that he robbed the office, you actually agree with Spacey's snot nosed manager that he's "got a big mouth" and deserves what he gets. At least to shut his mouth. But it's still hard to see this character get beaten up repeatedly with no reprieve. Probably why it only made 10 million dollars on a 12 million dollar budget.
Rating: ***1/2 out of 4
P.S. Lemmon's performance is the inspiration behind "Ol' Gil" on The Simpsons.
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