Classic Mamet, damnit

Compared with its bastard son "Boiler Room," "Glengarry Glen Ross" is superior in so many ways, not the least of which is subtlety.

Take, for instance, the common use of the "sick relative" as motive. In "Boiler Room," we see the relative (the secretary's mother), she is forced into dialogue, she even interupts one scene. But in "Glengarry Glen Ross," the relative (Levene's wife) never appears, and she is only alluded to in Levene's desperate, whispered phone calls.

The entire movie is a snapshot of desperation. The plot is set up beautifully, and for the first act we are in total sympathy with the four real-estate brokers. Suddenly, after an elegant pause, they make their first calls, lying their ways into the homes of potential investors. The scene is devastating to our understanding of the characters and is a perfect example of the movie's complexities, both character-wise and plot-wise.

The cast features three of the finest male actors of the '90s -- Spacey, Harris Baldwin -- and three whose best days came earlier: Lemmon, Arkin and Pacino. All work together brilliantly, playing off each other with wit and grace. I loved the scene at the end, where Pacino's character tells the washed-up Levene how much he respects his work. It's a delicious case of dramatic irony.

The writing is classic Mamet, one staccato dialogue after another, and, unlike "Boiler Room," doesn't depend on base testosterone to make a point.