Glengarry Glen Ross Response
Glengarry Glen Ross was a little bit hard for me to follow but I think I can see why it is regarded as such a good movie. The dialogue, while vulgar, was very sophisticated and the acting was top-notch. I found it difficult to watch because it has long scenes and was not very visually stimulating, and I tend to enjoy entertainment that is visually interesting to watch. There weren’t many scene changes that stood out and the film felt a bit monochromatic. This is understandable and fits the movie, however, so I support the director’s choices. The bland color palette of the film parallels how bland and dreary office life can be and is a good background on which to play the contrasting fiery exchanges between the main characters.
In addition to having a gray color palette, the morality in this film was also quite gray, which is part of the reason the movie is so interesting. All throughout the movie, I found myself changing my mind on who I was rooting for. The characters I thought were going to rob the office ended up not doing it and the guy I thought was an honest salesman ended up doing so instead. The movie made me think about how gray working that kind of job can be, and what otherwise good people would do under the right circumstances. My favorite scene was where Williamson realizes that Shelley Levene was the one who committed the robbery. I thought that Levene was going to be the only character I could trust but the look on his face said it all. I thought that Lemmon’s reaction to Spacey’s realization was one of the best acting moments in the film. I also really liked Spacey’s “will you go to lunch?” scene because I have never seen anyone so serious about lunch before. The sales and business worlds are completely unfamiliar territory for me, so it was cool to gain some insight by watching this very well-written film from a probably very well-written play.