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1992: Glengarry GlenRoss
1992 was a good year for film, although not a great one, in my opinion. My two runner-ups are Reservoir Dogs & Unforgiven. One is a terrific heist thriller and the other is one of the greatest films in the Western genre. Both are excellently made dramas that are both eligible for best of the year, but I love ensemble films and there are few better than Glengarry GlenRoss. Other films I liked from 1992 are The Last Of The Mohicans, Batman Returns & Bram Stoker's Dracula.
Glengarry GlenRoss shows two days in the lives of a group of real estate salesmen, who are shaken up after a vicious motivational speech from Blake (Alec Baldwin), sent by Mitch & Murray, the owners of the real estate agency. Blake presents a competition to the salesmen after a torrent of verbal abuse. The competition is to see who can make the most sales. Each salesman has a different reaction to this competition.
Glengarry GlenRoss is basically a showcase for each appearing actor. Every performance in this film is top-notch, but I'll come to that sooner. Glengarry GlenRoss is, in my opinion, the best ensemble drama around and I believe it is a crime that it's screenplay was not nominated for the Best Adapted Screenplay Oscar. The dialogue is foul, hilarious, convincing, believable and downright brilliant. The best lines are saved for Blake, who unleashes a volley of great lines. Some of the greatest ones include:
Blake: We're adding a little something to this month's sales contest. As you all know, first prize is a Cadillac Eldorado. Anybody want to see second prize?
[Holds up prize]
Blake: Second prize is a set of steak knives. Third prize is you're fired.
Blake: A-B-C. A-Always, B-Be, C-Closing. Always be closing, always be closing.
As I have said, every performance in this film is as good as the next. Jack Lemmon is at his best as Shelley "The Machine" Levine, a salesman in an incredible slump who tries to grasp whatever's left of his past glory. Al Pacino was rightly nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor, as he is undeniably magnetic as office hot-shot Ricky Roma, who's "Where did you learn your sales?" rant is one of the greatest insults in film history. Every other performance is worth mention, but my personal favourite performance in this film is definitely Alec Baldwin as the mean-mouthed Blake. He is only in it for 7 minutes, but what a 7 minutes. Baldwin may have bested this performance in other films like The Cooler, but this performance for me is what made me recognise Alec Baldwin as an extremely good actor.
It may not have the superior stroytelling that is endowed with Unforgiven or Reservoir Dogs, but it is has so much to recommend it, not to mention some of the most superior performances of the 1990's.
1992 was a good year for film, although not a great one, in my opinion. My two runner-ups are Reservoir Dogs & Unforgiven. One is a terrific heist thriller and the other is one of the greatest films in the Western genre. Both are excellently made dramas that are both eligible for best of the year, but I love ensemble films and there are few better than Glengarry GlenRoss. Other films I liked from 1992 are The Last Of The Mohicans, Batman Returns & Bram Stoker's Dracula.
Glengarry GlenRoss shows two days in the lives of a group of real estate salesmen, who are shaken up after a vicious motivational speech from Blake (Alec Baldwin), sent by Mitch & Murray, the owners of the real estate agency. Blake presents a competition to the salesmen after a torrent of verbal abuse. The competition is to see who can make the most sales. Each salesman has a different reaction to this competition.
Glengarry GlenRoss is basically a showcase for each appearing actor. Every performance in this film is top-notch, but I'll come to that sooner. Glengarry GlenRoss is, in my opinion, the best ensemble drama around and I believe it is a crime that it's screenplay was not nominated for the Best Adapted Screenplay Oscar. The dialogue is foul, hilarious, convincing, believable and downright brilliant. The best lines are saved for Blake, who unleashes a volley of great lines. Some of the greatest ones include:
Blake: We're adding a little something to this month's sales contest. As you all know, first prize is a Cadillac Eldorado. Anybody want to see second prize?
[Holds up prize]
Blake: Second prize is a set of steak knives. Third prize is you're fired.
Blake: A-B-C. A-Always, B-Be, C-Closing. Always be closing, always be closing.
As I have said, every performance in this film is as good as the next. Jack Lemmon is at his best as Shelley "The Machine" Levine, a salesman in an incredible slump who tries to grasp whatever's left of his past glory. Al Pacino was rightly nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor, as he is undeniably magnetic as office hot-shot Ricky Roma, who's "Where did you learn your sales?" rant is one of the greatest insults in film history. Every other performance is worth mention, but my personal favourite performance in this film is definitely Alec Baldwin as the mean-mouthed Blake. He is only in it for 7 minutes, but what a 7 minutes. Baldwin may have bested this performance in other films like The Cooler, but this performance for me is what made me recognise Alec Baldwin as an extremely good actor.
It may not have the superior stroytelling that is endowed with Unforgiven or Reservoir Dogs, but it is has so much to recommend it, not to mention some of the most superior performances of the 1990's.