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Glengarry Glen Ross

EMAILPRINTNew Line Cinema

Glengarry Glen Ross reviews
80
9.3 User Score:

Generally favorable reviews

Based on 14 critic reviews
How did we calculate this?

Based on 10 votes
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Movie Info

Genre(s): Drama

Written by: David Mamet (also play)

Directed by: James Foley

Release Date:
Theatrical: September 29, 1992
DVD: November 19, 2002

Running Time: 100 minutes, Color

Origin: USA

Summary

RATING: R

Starring Jack Lemmon, Al Pacino, Ed Harris, Alan Arkin, Kevin Spacey, Alec Baldwin, Jonathan Pryce, and Bruce Altman

A group of real estate salesmen in Chicago compete for the best "leads" at a small firm selling property in "resort" areas, such as Florida and Arizona. When a hotshot executive from the head office arrives and proposes a vicious sales contest, competition gets stiff, and salesmen who have worked a lifetime for the company find their jobs in jeopardy. (Artisan)

What The Critics Said

All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...

100

The New York Times Vincent Canby

The reason the film prompts laughter, and finally elation, is not because it's jolly or has any feel-good words to live by. It's because of the utterly demonic skill with which these foulmouthed characters carve one another up in futile attempts to stave off disaster.

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100

Rolling Stone Peter Travers

The pleasure of this unique film comes in watching superb actors dine on Mamet's pungent language like the feast it is.

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100

Entertainment Weekly Owen Gleiberman

The movie version, directed with unobtrusive precision by James Foley, stays amazingly true to the play's feisty spirit.

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100

Chicago Reader Jonathan Rosenbaum

All-expert cast.

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90

The Onion (A.V. Club) Noel Murray

Gets most of its legs from the acting and the dialogue, which has such a rhythmic grace that scenes from the movie can be played and replayed with no loss of thump.

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88

Chicago Sun-Times Roger Ebert

Mamet's dialogue has a kind of logic, a cadence, that allows people to arrive in triumph at the ends of sentences we could not possibly have imagined. There is great energy in it. You can see the joy with which these actors get their teeth into these great lines.

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80

TV Guide Staff (Not Credited)

A searing showcase for a remarkable ensemble cast.

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80

Washington Post Rita Kempley

All the performances are exceptional.

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75

The Globe and Mail (Toronto) Christopher Harris

It's blackly comic - though the humour creeps up on you slowly, and you're seldom sure if you should really be laughing.

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70

Dallas Observer Luke Y. Thompson

The directing's a bit obtrusive, but the script and the acting gets to the heart of Mamet's glorious obsession with macho B.S.

70

Variety Todd McCarthy

But it doesn't quite all come together here as it did onstage, and relentless scabrousness, heavy claustrophobia and a vaguely dated feel are among the elements that will keep mainstream audiences away.

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60

Washington Post Desson Thomson

There is no evidence of life outside the immediate world of the movie.

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60

The New Yorker Michael Sragow

Hammers away at the plot so relentlessly that you can feel the nails entering the back of your skull.

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50

Austin Chronicle Kathleen Maher

Interesting to watch like well-performed gymnastics but it never really connects.

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What Our Users Said

The average user rating for this movie is 9.3 (out of 10) based on 10 User Votes

Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.

Steven M gave it a10:
Anybody who voted less than 10 hasn't worked in sales. This gritty performance is absolutely spot on acting. And perhaps one of the best casts ever assembled. I wish they'd made a second one.

Keith F. gave it an8:
I haven't seen this movie in quite a while. If I recall, the acting was some of the best and intense I'd ever seen in a contemporary movie - especially, Jack Lemmon, Ed Harris and Alec Baldwin. But all the acting was great - Arkin, Pacino, Price, Spacey. Technically, I don't recall much - just the acting. I suppose Foley did a good job with the pacing of the movie - but again, the acting was impressive.

Ryan M. gave it a9:
Classic, great movie that is as good as the play and just as effective. Dialogue and performances are superb. Beyond well written. A pleasure to watch all- around.

[Anonymous] gave it a10:
Great. Captivating, from start to finish. I can't believe I've only just watched this!

Pat C. gave it an 8:
One of the best movies dialogue-wise ever made, and would have won an Oscar for casting if such things were awarded. All the characters are scumbags. Their saucy language, sometimes rising to the form of high poetry, is still offensive. This is an unblinking look at characters for which a happy ending is impossible. The story has no redeeming social value, but thatÂ’s non-applicable here. Like Citizen Kane, an excellent movie can prosper in a joyless vacuum. But here the resignation is conveyed not by genius but profanity, so in the end the characters convey only crisp frustration for their situation, not realization of their lost potential. Yet it's too bad most movies plots aren't as tightly wound.

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