Glengarry Glen Ross **** (1992, Al Pacino, Jack Lemmon, Alec Baldwin, Kevin Spacey, Ed Harris, Alan Arkin, Jonathan Pryce) – Classic Movie Review 1,005

James Foley’s 1992 film of David Mamet’s dazzling play Glengarry Glen Ross is a brilliant showcase for stupendous performances by Al Pacino, Jack Lemmon, Alec Baldwin, Kevin Spacey, Ed Harris and Alan Arkin.

Filmed in 1992 with a screenplay by the original author, David Mamet’s dazzling Broadway and British Royal National Theatre play Glengarry Glen Ross is a brilliant showcase for some stupendous performances by the great and the good.

Jack Lemmon’s a marvel as an old has-been salesman desperate to end a run of bad luck with the real-estate sales that threatens to get him sacked. And Al Pacino’s on fire as a go-getting hot-shot salesman, his protégé who is putting the squeeze on a nervous client (Jonathan Pryce).

Mamet’s script is built for a night in the theatre, and director James Foley emphasises the theatricality by filming on harshly lit sets with extreme close-ups as though it were a film noir. That does make it look stylish though, especially in the first half, filmed at night in the constantly driving rain. In the play’s interval a robbery has taken place on the sales office and attention revolves round which of the salesmen was involved.

While not in the Lemmon or Pacino class, Alec Baldwin, Alan Arkin, Ed Harris, Kevin Spacey, Jonathan Pryce and Bruce Altman still shine very brightly.

James Foley is renowned as the director of At Close Range (1986), Who’s That Girl, After Dark, My Sweet (1990), Glengarry Glen Ross (1992), Two Bits (1995),  Fear (1996), The Chamber (1996), The Corruptor, Confidence (2003), Perfect Stranger (2007),  Fifty Shades Darker (2017) and Fifty Shades Freed (2018), as well as 12 episodes of TV’s House of Cards (2013), also with Spacey.

Prolific film and music video director James Foley died on May 6, 2025 at the age of 71. He passed away peacefully in his sleep at his home in Los Angeles after a years-long struggle with brain cancer.

After studying film production, Foley made his directorial debut with 1984’s Reckless, starring Aidan Quinn and Daryl Hannah.

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© Derek Winnert 2014 Classic Movie Review 1,005

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