WEBVTT 1 00:00:00.240 --> 00:00:03.520 Hello, everybody, and welcome to a brand new episode of 2 00:00:03.720 --> 00:00:07.400 Second Take Cinema, coming at you from the glorious Simpala 3 00:00:07.480 --> 00:00:11.279 Film's headquarters in sunny South End on Sea. I am 4 00:00:11.320 --> 00:00:14.439 your host, Jamie Evans, joined as always by mister Rory 5 00:00:14.519 --> 00:00:18.320 Jocelyn Well. Hello, and today we are going back to 6 00:00:18.359 --> 00:00:21.320 the Year of Our Lord nineteen ninety two for a 7 00:00:21.320 --> 00:00:25.920 film with a stacked cast including al Pacino, Jack Lemon 8 00:00:26.000 --> 00:00:29.160 and Alec Baldwin. Ladies and gentlemen, we are giving a 9 00:00:29.239 --> 00:01:32.120 second take to nineteen ninety two's Glen Garry Glenn Ross. 10 00:01:33.319 --> 00:01:36.400 Glengarry Glen Ross is a nineteen ninety two American black 11 00:01:36.480 --> 00:01:40.519 comedy drama film directed by James Foley and written by 12 00:01:40.680 --> 00:01:44.920 David Mammott, based on his nineteen eighty four Pulett Surprise 13 00:01:45.040 --> 00:01:50.319 winning play. It stars Al Pacino, Jack Lemon, Alec Baldwin, 14 00:01:50.599 --> 00:01:55.359 Ed Harris, Alan Arkin, Kevin Spacey, and Jonathan Price. It 15 00:01:55.480 --> 00:01:58.719 was made for a budget of twelve point five million dollars, 16 00:01:59.079 --> 00:02:02.920 but sadly post only ten point seven million dollars, later 17 00:02:03.000 --> 00:02:07.000 becoming a cult classic on home video release. The film 18 00:02:07.000 --> 00:02:11.439 holds a ninety five percent rating on Rotten Tomatoes based 19 00:02:11.479 --> 00:02:15.000 on fifty six different reviews, with the site's critical consensus 20 00:02:15.039 --> 00:02:18.960 reading this adaptation of David Mammett's play is every bit 21 00:02:19.000 --> 00:02:22.680 as compelling and witty as its source material, thanks in 22 00:02:22.759 --> 00:02:25.319 large part to a clever script and a bevy of 23 00:02:25.479 --> 00:02:29.759 powerhouse actors. Owen Glieberman, in his review for Entertainment Weekly, 24 00:02:29.800 --> 00:02:33.199 gave the film an A rating, praising Lemon's performance as 25 00:02:33.280 --> 00:02:37.039 a revelation and describing his character as the weasley soul 26 00:02:37.120 --> 00:02:41.080 of Glengarry Glen Ross Willie Lowman turned into a one liner. 27 00:02:41.599 --> 00:02:45.080 In his review for the Chicago Sun Times, Roger Ebert wrote, 28 00:02:45.280 --> 00:02:48.400 Mammeett's dialogue has a kind of logic, a cadence that 29 00:02:48.520 --> 00:02:51.319 allows people to arrive in triumph at the end of 30 00:02:51.400 --> 00:02:54.719 sentences we could not possibly have imagined. There is great 31 00:02:54.840 --> 00:02:57.479 energy in it. You can see the joy with which 32 00:02:57.520 --> 00:03:00.520 these actors get their teeth into these great lines after 33 00:03:00.599 --> 00:03:03.560 living through movies in which flat dialogue serves only to 34 00:03:03.599 --> 00:03:07.879 advance the story. In the Chicago reader Jonathan Rosenbaum lorded 35 00:03:07.879 --> 00:03:11.080 Foley for his excellent feeling for the driven and haunted 36 00:03:11.199 --> 00:03:15.080 jive rhythms of David Mammett, macho invective and all and 37 00:03:15.120 --> 00:03:17.759 called the film a superb nineteen ninety two delivery of 38 00:03:17.800 --> 00:03:21.919 Mammett's tor Deforce theater piece. The Chicago Tribune's David care 39 00:03:22.000 --> 00:03:24.680 hedged his praise, writing that the film was a well written, 40 00:03:24.719 --> 00:03:27.599 well staged, and well acted piece, though there is something 41 00:03:27.719 --> 00:03:31.199 musty in its esthetic, that of the huge bellowing method 42 00:03:31.240 --> 00:03:35.879 performance plastered over a flimsy one set. World Newsweek's Jack 43 00:03:35.960 --> 00:03:39.400 Croll observed Baldwin is sleekly sinister in the role of Blake, 44 00:03:39.719 --> 00:03:42.719 a troubleshooter called in to shake up the salesman. He 45 00:03:42.800 --> 00:03:45.599 shakes them up, alright. But this character, not in the 46 00:03:45.680 --> 00:03:49.479 original play, also shakes up the movie's toned balance with 47 00:03:49.520 --> 00:03:53.960 his sheer noise and scatter logical fury, scatological. 48 00:03:54.080 --> 00:03:56.719 That's a word in it, Jesus, I'm guessing it doesn't 49 00:03:56.759 --> 00:03:59.520 mean scatters in fucal, that's no no. 50 00:04:01.039 --> 00:04:04.039 In his review for Time Magazine, Richard Korlis wrote, a 51 00:04:04.199 --> 00:04:08.199 peerless ensemble of actors fills Glengary glen Ross with audible 52 00:04:08.240 --> 00:04:11.639 glears and shudders. The play was zippy black comedy about 53 00:04:11.680 --> 00:04:15.039 predators in Twilight. The movie as a photo essay shot 54 00:04:15.080 --> 00:04:17.959 in more close up about the difficulty most people have 55 00:04:18.079 --> 00:04:22.879 convincing themselves that what they do matters. However, Gessen Howe's 56 00:04:22.879 --> 00:04:26.839 review in The Washington Post criticized Foley's direction, writing that 57 00:04:26.879 --> 00:04:29.800 it doesn't add much more than the street between. If 58 00:04:29.800 --> 00:04:32.800 his intention is to create a sense of claustrophobia, he 59 00:04:32.839 --> 00:04:36.600 also creates the presumably unwanted effect of a sound stage. 60 00:04:36.920 --> 00:04:40.079 There is no evidence of life outside the immediate world 61 00:04:40.279 --> 00:04:43.360 of the movie. Interesting because that is actually one of 62 00:04:43.399 --> 00:04:47.560 my points. Okay, well, let's move on then. So this 63 00:04:47.600 --> 00:04:49.360 film was added to the list by your good self, 64 00:04:49.439 --> 00:04:52.079 Rory Jocelyn. Do you want to tell the audience about 65 00:04:52.079 --> 00:04:56.279 the first time you saw Glengarry glen Ross? So I was. 66 00:04:56.839 --> 00:05:00.079 This would have been late two thousand's. I was in 67 00:05:00.079 --> 00:05:03.720 involved in a theater group, local androm theater group called 68 00:05:03.759 --> 00:05:06.439 Lindasvhan all Lindis fan players, I think they were called. 69 00:05:06.439 --> 00:05:06.879 At the time. 70 00:05:07.240 --> 00:05:10.360 We had done a film, a play called Steel Magnolias, 71 00:05:10.879 --> 00:05:12.519 and we were going to go on to do basically 72 00:05:12.639 --> 00:05:15.800 a duet film of plays, one which was an all 73 00:05:15.839 --> 00:05:19.279 female cast, the aforementioned Still Magnolias, and then a play 74 00:05:19.279 --> 00:05:22.680 that was normal male cast. Initially I wanted I pitched 75 00:05:22.680 --> 00:05:24.720 that we did Twelve Angry Men, but we couldn't do 76 00:05:24.800 --> 00:05:28.079 Twelve Angry Men because it was currently doing a stage. 77 00:05:28.560 --> 00:05:30.759 It was currently in London, so it was playing in 78 00:05:30.800 --> 00:05:33.480 London in the UK at the time, and Robert Vaughan 79 00:05:33.639 --> 00:05:37.720 was playing Dura number nine in that play, and we 80 00:05:37.759 --> 00:05:39.560 actually went and watched. It was a really cool production 81 00:05:39.600 --> 00:05:42.480 because they actually put the stage on a revolving platform, 82 00:05:42.920 --> 00:05:45.079 so as the play goes on, you get to see 83 00:05:45.120 --> 00:05:48.720 everyone's face and back as the platform rotates around with 84 00:05:48.759 --> 00:05:50.759 the table on it, which was a really cool way 85 00:05:50.759 --> 00:05:54.680 of doing it. But anyway, yeah, so we decided that 86 00:05:54.720 --> 00:05:57.040 we couldn't do that play. We'd do Glen Garry Glen 87 00:05:57.120 --> 00:06:00.480 Ross instead, because it is again an all male cast. 88 00:06:00.920 --> 00:06:03.480 We ended up not doing the Blake section because it 89 00:06:03.480 --> 00:06:06.720 wasn't part of the original play anyway, and that makes 90 00:06:06.759 --> 00:06:08.439 it a little iffy on the right side if you 91 00:06:08.920 --> 00:06:10.920 buy the rights for the play and then add stuff 92 00:06:10.959 --> 00:06:14.399 to it. So, yeah, it was an interesting play. I 93 00:06:14.439 --> 00:06:16.519 was involved in the behind the scenes of that one 94 00:06:16.519 --> 00:06:18.199 more than I was. I wasn't a performer on it, 95 00:06:19.040 --> 00:06:20.920 but as part of that we watched the film. The 96 00:06:21.040 --> 00:06:24.319 film is the script is amazing I have to say 97 00:06:24.319 --> 00:06:26.079 I'm a big fan. I haven't seen a lot of 98 00:06:26.079 --> 00:06:28.600 Mannett's work, but based on this, I'm a very big 99 00:06:28.639 --> 00:06:32.759 fan of how this script is. It's very it's very 100 00:06:32.800 --> 00:06:35.600 strong as the people as people you read out state, 101 00:06:36.279 --> 00:06:40.759 the lines really hit not necessarily fully naturalistic, but everyone 102 00:06:40.800 --> 00:06:42.879 gets kind of a moment, which is really great for 103 00:06:42.920 --> 00:06:46.959 an actor and for a performance. And also I kind 104 00:06:46.959 --> 00:06:48.480 of fell in love with the way that this film 105 00:06:48.519 --> 00:06:50.759 is shot. There's certain elements of this film that I 106 00:06:50.759 --> 00:06:52.600 think work really really well. We'll get to those as 107 00:06:52.600 --> 00:06:56.399 we go through the film, and the performances are very good. So, yeah, 108 00:06:56.399 --> 00:06:58.199 that was the first time i'd seen it. What was 109 00:06:58.240 --> 00:06:59.720 your first time seeing this film? 110 00:07:00.279 --> 00:07:02.920 This time? I've never seen it before. I had read 111 00:07:02.959 --> 00:07:07.680 the play as part of a me and a couple 112 00:07:07.680 --> 00:07:10.920 of friends, previous guests on the show, Benton and Dave. 113 00:07:11.600 --> 00:07:14.959 We just were getting together every now and again to 114 00:07:15.040 --> 00:07:18.439 read a play just for shits and giggles. We did 115 00:07:18.519 --> 00:07:21.560 on Calvanya as well, right, Okay, but yeah, we did 116 00:07:21.560 --> 00:07:24.000 Glenn Garry Glen Ross, and we swapped out all the 117 00:07:24.040 --> 00:07:27.279 parts and things. I played Roma at one point, nice 118 00:07:27.439 --> 00:07:29.759 and then I think I also got to play Shelley 119 00:07:29.879 --> 00:07:31.839 for a little bit as well, But it was just 120 00:07:31.959 --> 00:07:33.600 it wasn't for any reason. It was just the three 121 00:07:33.639 --> 00:07:36.959 of us hanging out. We did talk about wanting to 122 00:07:36.959 --> 00:07:41.160 try and put it on at some point, but without 123 00:07:41.160 --> 00:07:44.680 a company behind you, it's incredibly difficult. 124 00:07:45.000 --> 00:07:47.399 Yeah, because you have to pay for the licensing rights first. 125 00:07:47.600 --> 00:07:49.839 Then you have to pay for a studio space like 126 00:07:49.920 --> 00:07:52.120 a rehearsal space. If you're not going to use someone's else, 127 00:07:52.879 --> 00:07:54.839 then you have to play for the actual performance space. 128 00:07:55.879 --> 00:07:59.079 So yeah, even androm at the moment in this country 129 00:07:59.120 --> 00:08:01.680 is really struggling as well well. Because of that, costs 130 00:08:01.680 --> 00:08:03.800 are going up, but people amount of people going to 131 00:08:03.879 --> 00:08:08.279 theater to watch amateur dramatics is going down because access 132 00:08:08.319 --> 00:08:09.079 to content. 133 00:08:08.839 --> 00:08:11.600 Is just so much higher. But no, I enjoyed the play. 134 00:08:11.759 --> 00:08:17.040 Mammot has a very unique style of writing that is 135 00:08:17.160 --> 00:08:19.639 very much his own, and it's there in a lot 136 00:08:19.639 --> 00:08:23.399 of Mammot plays. Yeah, he likes a lot of profanity. Yeah, 137 00:08:23.399 --> 00:08:25.319 and he likes a lot of But I think the 138 00:08:25.360 --> 00:08:29.639 profanity is well used. Yeah, it's not. It's us. 139 00:08:29.800 --> 00:08:33.159 It's used to sort of emphasize stuff properly, not like 140 00:08:33.240 --> 00:08:37.080 say Sarah Kane, Sarah Kane wrote place like blasted, for 141 00:08:37.120 --> 00:08:40.720 example in the nineties, and it was just they used 142 00:08:40.720 --> 00:08:43.480 the F word and can we use the falsewear words? 143 00:08:43.919 --> 00:08:46.360 In the show she used to use words fucking cunt 144 00:08:46.720 --> 00:08:50.360 in almost every single line of dialogue to the point 145 00:08:50.360 --> 00:08:53.720 where it became meaningless. This doesn't do that. Whenever they 146 00:08:53.799 --> 00:08:55.919 you got the memory of a fucking fly, you know, 147 00:08:56.000 --> 00:08:58.799 things like that. It's the words emphasize ye. 148 00:08:59.720 --> 00:09:05.080 And he writes very snappy dialogue that works very well 149 00:09:05.120 --> 00:09:07.840 on stage. And it's not that it doesn't work in 150 00:09:07.919 --> 00:09:12.120 the film, it's that it gives the film a certain 151 00:09:12.240 --> 00:09:18.080 stagey feel mostly around and it's the one character's name 152 00:09:18.080 --> 00:09:22.279 I can't remember, is it arowhak Oh? What Alan Arkin? 153 00:09:22.360 --> 00:09:24.559 It's George Arron Now Aaron Now. I know it had 154 00:09:24.720 --> 00:09:26.600 error in it. 155 00:09:26.600 --> 00:09:28.480 It is a weird name, Aaron Now, I've never heard 156 00:09:28.519 --> 00:09:30.039 it before accepting his player. 157 00:09:30.879 --> 00:09:35.840 It's mainly around Alan Arkins's character Aaron Now who he 158 00:09:35.840 --> 00:09:38.080 doesn't really swear. No, no, he doesn't swear. What I 159 00:09:38.080 --> 00:09:42.360 mean is the word stilted dialogue where there's lots of times, 160 00:09:43.000 --> 00:09:45.399 at least once with Ed Harrison, another time when he's 161 00:09:45.440 --> 00:09:50.360 talking to al Pacino where the deal is that Aaron 162 00:09:50.399 --> 00:09:53.720 now never finishes a sentence and he just repeats what 163 00:09:53.799 --> 00:09:58.120 the other person is saying back to him. Oh it works. 164 00:09:58.159 --> 00:10:01.720 I'm not saying it doesn't work, but but so we 165 00:10:01.799 --> 00:10:03.320 might as well just get into it. So I like 166 00:10:03.440 --> 00:10:06.360 this film. I enjoyed it. I actually watched it twice 167 00:10:07.000 --> 00:10:10.440 because the first time I watched it I was not 168 00:10:10.480 --> 00:10:13.159 in a very good frame of mind. And although I 169 00:10:13.279 --> 00:10:16.200 watched the whole film, a little bit of me was like, 170 00:10:16.240 --> 00:10:17.840 I think I need to watch this again just to 171 00:10:18.559 --> 00:10:24.200 absorb it. But I will say it's even if you 172 00:10:24.279 --> 00:10:27.759 didn't know beforehand, I think you would watch this and go, oh, 173 00:10:27.840 --> 00:10:29.360 this was a play. 174 00:10:29.559 --> 00:10:32.159 Yeah, it feels like a play. Yeah, it doesn't really 175 00:10:32.159 --> 00:10:34.759 conceal that. It's a little bit like The Sunset Limited. 176 00:10:35.000 --> 00:10:37.679 You I was just about to say that, yeah, yeah, 177 00:10:37.840 --> 00:10:39.960 it's very much like another film you showed me based 178 00:10:39.960 --> 00:10:42.480 on a play, which is The Sunset Limited. It has 179 00:10:42.559 --> 00:10:45.879 that exact same feel, exactly like that reviewer said, you 180 00:10:45.919 --> 00:10:48.559 don't believe there's a world outside of what's happening on 181 00:10:48.600 --> 00:10:50.639 the screen. Would you say the same for Twelve Angry Men, 182 00:10:50.639 --> 00:10:53.159 which likewise was based on a play. No, I don't 183 00:10:53.200 --> 00:10:55.240 think Twelve Angry Men fell into that trap in a 184 00:10:55.240 --> 00:10:57.200 weird way, whereas the other two do. 185 00:10:57.519 --> 00:11:00.159 I think what it is is where you are in 186 00:11:00.159 --> 00:11:03.639 the building. For twelve Angry Men, there isn't much to 187 00:11:03.679 --> 00:11:05.240 see outside in the real world, and you do have 188 00:11:05.279 --> 00:11:09.000 the windows. The windows aren't covered, so you see the 189 00:11:09.039 --> 00:11:11.679 outside world as time changes, as it starts to rain, 190 00:11:11.840 --> 00:11:14.039 things like that, which gives you the impression of a 191 00:11:14.080 --> 00:11:16.879 real world. Plus you also have the guy who brings 192 00:11:16.919 --> 00:11:19.799 in pieces of evidence, who, even though he's not really 193 00:11:19.840 --> 00:11:22.440 a main character, he is basically an extra, or a 194 00:11:22.440 --> 00:11:26.480 glorified extra. It is someone outside of your main twelve 195 00:11:26.519 --> 00:11:30.159 who pops in and out, and weirdly enough, technically Glengarry 196 00:11:30.159 --> 00:11:32.840 glen Ross has the ability to have more of that 197 00:11:33.279 --> 00:11:37.399 because certainly in the first half, Roma and his Mark 198 00:11:37.399 --> 00:11:40.200 who's trying to sell to Link, are in the Chinese 199 00:11:40.279 --> 00:11:43.879 bar across the street, and in that bar, certainly in 200 00:11:43.879 --> 00:11:46.399 the first scene there's quite a few other patrons, so 201 00:11:46.440 --> 00:11:49.240 you had a better opportunity than you had in Twelve 202 00:11:49.320 --> 00:11:52.919 Angry Men to have a slightly more livable world with 203 00:11:52.960 --> 00:11:55.080 more people in it, at least is extras. 204 00:11:55.120 --> 00:11:58.000 In the back. Shelly even goes out on a call. Yes, 205 00:11:58.039 --> 00:12:00.919 he does sit as they call it, Yes, and yet 206 00:12:01.000 --> 00:12:04.840 somehow it still feels stagy in a way. 207 00:12:05.200 --> 00:12:08.200 I don't know why that is on the set because 208 00:12:08.240 --> 00:12:11.320 he's so isolated from everyone else. All the street shots 209 00:12:11.360 --> 00:12:14.320 as well, there's never any extras, so, which is kind 210 00:12:14.320 --> 00:12:16.600 of interesting because you'd think there would be, like when 211 00:12:16.600 --> 00:12:18.960 they crossed the street both times, or the two or 212 00:12:18.960 --> 00:12:21.399 three times they do it. I don't recall there being 213 00:12:21.399 --> 00:12:23.480 any extras walking up or down the street. And also 214 00:12:23.519 --> 00:12:26.200 when Shelley's in the phone booth while he's out on 215 00:12:26.279 --> 00:12:30.639 the set, you never see anyone walk past the phone booth, 216 00:12:31.399 --> 00:12:34.360 which makes it feel like a vignette more than an 217 00:12:34.399 --> 00:12:35.919 actual scene in a movie. 218 00:12:36.879 --> 00:12:41.519 And it's that combined with the dialogue. Like the way 219 00:12:41.679 --> 00:12:44.879 Mammock writes is very stagy because he is a predominantly 220 00:12:44.879 --> 00:12:47.919 a stage writer, and it has that sort of musical 221 00:12:48.000 --> 00:12:51.080 rhythm that you're used to in stage plays. Yeah, apparently, 222 00:12:51.159 --> 00:12:51.879 which isn't bad. 223 00:12:52.000 --> 00:12:53.519 I don't know if it's for this film or for 224 00:12:53.559 --> 00:12:57.720 another one, but David Mammott he or at least in 225 00:12:57.759 --> 00:12:59.679 one of his films, he wrote it with a metronome 226 00:13:00.360 --> 00:13:02.679 so that the rhythm was really exact and you had 227 00:13:02.720 --> 00:13:05.159 to perform to the rhythm of the metronome so that 228 00:13:05.240 --> 00:13:08.279 it had this like everything hit on time and on beat, 229 00:13:09.240 --> 00:13:11.600 which is a really cool way of doing it. You know, 230 00:13:11.639 --> 00:13:15.039 I haven't seen that other film, but this film doesn't. 231 00:13:15.159 --> 00:13:17.360 This film is never boring. It's mate of the fact 232 00:13:17.360 --> 00:13:20.639 that it's mostly men sitting around talking. I counted it 233 00:13:20.679 --> 00:13:23.080 the Alec Baldwin scene, which is added just for the 234 00:13:23.120 --> 00:13:25.840 film that was not in the players mentioned before. That 235 00:13:25.960 --> 00:13:29.799 starts at eight minutes thirty. It finishes at sixteen minutes 236 00:13:29.799 --> 00:13:32.440 in so it's a seven and a half minute scene 237 00:13:32.919 --> 00:13:36.000 with three guys sat down. Kevin Spacey just stood in 238 00:13:36.039 --> 00:13:38.919 the background basically as an extra for that scene, and 239 00:13:38.960 --> 00:13:42.440 Alec Baldwin just shouting at people. And that's it for 240 00:13:42.600 --> 00:13:45.559 seven and a half minute straight and it doesn't lose you. 241 00:13:45.639 --> 00:13:46.639 It's never boring. 242 00:13:46.679 --> 00:13:51.000 It's gripping, which again to me shows that modern filmmaking 243 00:13:51.000 --> 00:13:54.480 ideology is probably not right because there are a lot 244 00:13:54.480 --> 00:13:57.679 of films like this where that scene can hold it. 245 00:13:57.679 --> 00:13:59.399 And I think that would hold for most people. 246 00:14:00.120 --> 00:14:01.840 Shown that scene to a lot of people when I 247 00:14:01.879 --> 00:14:03.559 worked in sales, which will come to it in a 248 00:14:03.600 --> 00:14:06.720 bit and also, outside of working in sales, I've never 249 00:14:06.759 --> 00:14:10.919 seen anyone get bored watching that scene, regardless of the 250 00:14:10.960 --> 00:14:13.279 fact whether or not they really are into film or not. 251 00:14:13.559 --> 00:14:16.960 So modern filmmakings suggests that you should do a scene 252 00:14:16.960 --> 00:14:18.720 for a very short period of time and then quickly 253 00:14:18.759 --> 00:14:21.480 move on. I don't think that's right. This film is 254 00:14:21.559 --> 00:14:24.279 way more engaging than say Your Man of Steals, et cetera, 255 00:14:24.360 --> 00:14:27.279 which man still feels like it's built to that modern 256 00:14:27.559 --> 00:14:29.679 aesthetic where it's like, well, this film, this scene has 257 00:14:29.679 --> 00:14:31.639 already been two minutes long. It's already over loong. Let's 258 00:14:31.639 --> 00:14:34.960 trim it and then fuck off. So nothing ever sits this. 259 00:14:35.200 --> 00:14:37.919 Everything sits. The performances obviously help as well. 260 00:14:38.320 --> 00:14:41.000 Yeah, I mean this is a stacked cast. Yeah, Like 261 00:14:41.440 --> 00:14:44.279 everyone in this is like one of the greatest actors 262 00:14:44.320 --> 00:14:47.519 of the twentieth century. Yeah, like al Pacino before he 263 00:14:47.799 --> 00:14:52.200 degraded into his weird phase, Yeah, where he was just 264 00:14:52.440 --> 00:14:53.799 screaming every line. Yeah. 265 00:14:53.879 --> 00:14:56.240 Jack Lemon, even though he was in his twilight years, 266 00:14:56.320 --> 00:14:57.879 was still doing great, and this is one of his 267 00:14:57.919 --> 00:14:59.279 greatest performances from that era. 268 00:14:59.639 --> 00:15:02.559 Yeah. I would say he's I think he's probably the 269 00:15:02.600 --> 00:15:04.879 best in the film, which is which is hard to 270 00:15:04.879 --> 00:15:07.960 say because they're all good. But I think Jack Lemon 271 00:15:08.039 --> 00:15:10.080 is the one that makes the film personally. 272 00:15:10.240 --> 00:15:13.240 Yeah, he's the heart of the film realistically. Whether or 273 00:15:13.279 --> 00:15:16.639 not you think he's a good character is a different question. 274 00:15:17.399 --> 00:15:21.120 His performance really anchors the film into its meat and potatoes. 275 00:15:21.519 --> 00:15:22.440 Roma is the. 276 00:15:22.320 --> 00:15:25.600 Smooth, buttery guy who really is all about the lion 277 00:15:25.679 --> 00:15:30.360 the double speak. So is Levine played by played by 278 00:15:30.759 --> 00:15:34.279 Jack Lemon. But he's the guy with everything to. 279 00:15:34.279 --> 00:15:39.559 Lose, and he's the guy who is outdated. Now. His 280 00:15:39.720 --> 00:15:43.279 sales techniques are all old hats. Yes, so that's the thing. Actually, 281 00:15:43.360 --> 00:15:46.519 he's a terrible salesman. Yeah, but he was a good 282 00:15:46.559 --> 00:15:50.240 salesman at one point in time, he says. Well, yeah, 283 00:15:50.279 --> 00:15:52.559 he says, but we are given reason to assume because 284 00:15:52.559 --> 00:15:55.039 we know he was the top salesman for several months 285 00:15:55.039 --> 00:15:58.360 out of the year under Roma. No, he says, at 286 00:15:58.360 --> 00:16:00.240 one point he was number one on the board. No, 287 00:16:00.360 --> 00:16:03.840 he says he was above Oh I thought he said 288 00:16:03.879 --> 00:16:06.200 he was top. No, he said he was above Moss. 289 00:16:06.679 --> 00:16:09.399 Oh I see, yeah, But he does, to be fair, 290 00:16:09.440 --> 00:16:12.080 he does mention that Mitch and Murray, I think the 291 00:16:12.159 --> 00:16:13.919 name of the guys around the company are you never 292 00:16:13.960 --> 00:16:17.279 see them came to him and were like, hey, you 293 00:16:17.320 --> 00:16:20.440 bought me that car with all your sales, Shelley, So yeah, 294 00:16:20.480 --> 00:16:22.320 that's suppose. There is the problem is all of his 295 00:16:22.399 --> 00:16:25.960 techniques are outdated now because time has moved on past 296 00:16:26.039 --> 00:16:28.519 him and he's still trying to sell in that cheesy, 297 00:16:29.039 --> 00:16:32.000 hey I'm here to save you money type way. He's 298 00:16:32.000 --> 00:16:34.639 a snake oil salesman out of time. So that's that 299 00:16:34.759 --> 00:16:37.080 whole thing of you, well this or heal all your ears. 300 00:16:37.200 --> 00:16:40.200 He's kind of that because you call someone up and 301 00:16:40.240 --> 00:16:42.960 he'll be like, uh, well, I've just been flown in 302 00:16:43.000 --> 00:16:44.799 from out of town and I've got one of these 303 00:16:44.840 --> 00:16:47.639 parcels and you've or he does this other one where 304 00:16:47.639 --> 00:16:51.399 it's like you've won our sales contest and things like that. 305 00:16:51.799 --> 00:16:54.159 It's like, no one fucking wants to talk about this ship. 306 00:16:54.279 --> 00:16:56.759 Like, as soon as you go he you've won our 307 00:16:56.840 --> 00:16:59.399 sales contest for this season, and you've gone, I've not 308 00:16:59.440 --> 00:17:02.320 signed up to sales contest. Clearly this is ship, Yeah, 309 00:17:02.320 --> 00:17:04.599 and you just hang straight the hell up. He's not 310 00:17:04.799 --> 00:17:07.839 realized that that probably worked when it first came in, yeah, 311 00:17:07.880 --> 00:17:10.200 because no one knew it was a scam. Yeah, now 312 00:17:10.200 --> 00:17:11.559 everyone knows it's a scam. 313 00:17:11.359 --> 00:17:14.200 Whereas Ricky Roma is doing that more modern way of 314 00:17:14.240 --> 00:17:17.279 selling where he doesn't try and actually sell you the product. No, 315 00:17:17.359 --> 00:17:20.119 he sells you the lifestyle. Yeah, and that's the thing 316 00:17:20.160 --> 00:17:20.599 with Link. 317 00:17:21.000 --> 00:17:22.880 We'll get to Roma in a little bit, I think, 318 00:17:22.920 --> 00:17:24.759 because we've got to talk very specifically. 319 00:17:25.079 --> 00:17:29.480 The cast. First. Ed Harris is great, probably the least 320 00:17:29.519 --> 00:17:33.839 impressive of the cast, just in the sense, Yeah, this 321 00:17:33.960 --> 00:17:36.960 is this is like the typical Ed Harris role that 322 00:17:37.000 --> 00:17:39.200 you've seen him do a bunch of times. It's still good. 323 00:17:39.480 --> 00:17:42.160 It's great at doing it. Alan Arkin, I want to 324 00:17:42.160 --> 00:17:44.720 shout out Alan Arkin because he actually died last year. Yeah. 325 00:17:45.079 --> 00:17:47.480 I'm actually a big Alan Arkin fan. He's a very 326 00:17:47.519 --> 00:17:51.000 good actor. He's a brilliant actor who is underrated in 327 00:17:51.039 --> 00:17:54.319 this day and age. Yeah, definitely in his older years. 328 00:17:54.400 --> 00:17:56.799 I've actually got an earlier film of his from the 329 00:17:56.880 --> 00:18:01.200 sixties with Audrey Hepburn in it called Wait Until Dark. 330 00:18:01.279 --> 00:18:04.240 It's a cool little thriller, so it's kind of Audrey 331 00:18:04.240 --> 00:18:07.720 Hepburn's a little bit older in it, and she plays 332 00:18:07.759 --> 00:18:12.799 a blind woman who lives alone, and Alan Arkin is 333 00:18:12.839 --> 00:18:17.119 a burglar who breaks into her house interesting, and the 334 00:18:17.160 --> 00:18:21.039 whole film is set in the house and she's blind 335 00:18:21.400 --> 00:18:24.599 and he's like a murderous burglar. 336 00:18:24.839 --> 00:18:28.200 That's interesting, I know. So he's also just before he 337 00:18:28.240 --> 00:18:31.319 died as well, he was in a series on Netflix. 338 00:18:30.880 --> 00:18:34.319 With great show and it's you really miss him in 339 00:18:34.359 --> 00:18:35.160 the last season yea. 340 00:18:35.240 --> 00:18:36.880 And it's understandable they couldn't bring him back in the 341 00:18:36.920 --> 00:18:38.400 last season because he passed away. 342 00:18:38.599 --> 00:18:39.400 He hadn't passed away. 343 00:18:39.519 --> 00:18:41.240 But I think I'm guessing he was ill. I think 344 00:18:41.319 --> 00:18:44.319 he was ill and on his way out. But his character, 345 00:18:44.359 --> 00:18:47.200 again very different to Aaron Now in this. His character 346 00:18:47.279 --> 00:18:51.000 in the Cominsky Method is sharp, he's razor tongued, he's 347 00:18:51.079 --> 00:18:52.720 you know, he's a complete bastard. 348 00:18:53.240 --> 00:18:55.960 He's in Little Miss Sunshine as well. He's good. I 349 00:18:56.000 --> 00:18:58.839 haven't seen that yet. That's good. That's him. That's a 350 00:18:58.920 --> 00:19:04.559 powerhouse cast as well. It's him, Paul Dano and Steve Correll, right, okay. 351 00:19:05.240 --> 00:19:08.640 And I think the little girl is Abigail Breslin, and 352 00:19:08.680 --> 00:19:11.799 I think the mum is Tony Collette, So they're all 353 00:19:11.880 --> 00:19:17.400 like great actors. Steve Carell plays the uncle and he's 354 00:19:17.440 --> 00:19:23.200 like suicidal and keeps trying to kill himself. It's the 355 00:19:23.200 --> 00:19:26.440 way Steve Correll, but it is dark funny. It's not 356 00:19:26.640 --> 00:19:31.200 half funny. It's that sort of uncomfortable laughter where it's like, oh, 357 00:19:31.240 --> 00:19:35.319 if this wasn't Steve Correll, this would be horrifying. Yeah, 358 00:19:35.359 --> 00:19:39.720 but yeah, Alan Arkins great. Kevin Spacey is just I 359 00:19:39.759 --> 00:19:43.240 know nowadays even more so because it turns out he's 360 00:19:43.240 --> 00:19:45.920 a bad bad man. But even before we knew that, 361 00:19:46.519 --> 00:19:50.200 you so badly want to punch him in this film, 362 00:19:51.119 --> 00:19:54.400 I love the big yeah right near the end. So 363 00:19:54.519 --> 00:19:56.960 spoiler alert, I'm just gonna say now, spoiler this is 364 00:19:56.960 --> 00:19:58.720 one of the few films where actually, if you haven't 365 00:19:58.759 --> 00:20:00.880 seen it, you should turn the episode off and go 366 00:20:00.960 --> 00:20:03.200 watch it. Yeah, because I'm about to give away the 367 00:20:03.240 --> 00:20:08.039 twist at the end, the subtle but very their joy 368 00:20:08.079 --> 00:20:11.559 on his face. Yeah, when he reveals to Shelley that 369 00:20:12.319 --> 00:20:15.519 the sale that's going to save Shelley's career is his bollocks, 370 00:20:16.240 --> 00:20:18.720 that it's because he's chewing gum, isn't he ego? They 371 00:20:18.920 --> 00:20:21.039 just like talking to say it? 372 00:20:21.160 --> 00:20:23.319 So can we talk about that? Because each what's great 373 00:20:23.319 --> 00:20:26.480 about this story as a play but also as a 374 00:20:26.519 --> 00:20:32.400 film is each of these salesmen are competent or incompetent 375 00:20:32.400 --> 00:20:35.160 in their own way. They each have a story arc, 376 00:20:35.680 --> 00:20:38.400 and that story arc sometimes connects to the other characters, 377 00:20:38.759 --> 00:20:41.640 and you get a lot about them as salesmen or 378 00:20:41.680 --> 00:20:44.000 about who they are in the terms of Williamson played 379 00:20:44.000 --> 00:20:46.720 by Kevin Spacey, based on what happens and who they 380 00:20:46.720 --> 00:20:50.319 interact with. So Roma he's a slick guy. He's selling 381 00:20:50.359 --> 00:20:53.519 the lifestyle. He's a bit of a bullshit merchant. Again, 382 00:20:53.519 --> 00:20:56.200 we'll come to him in a minute. We've talked about 383 00:20:56.200 --> 00:20:58.920 Shelley Levine. He is a guy who was a great 384 00:20:58.960 --> 00:21:02.400 salesman he picked, but he's been slow to change or 385 00:21:02.599 --> 00:21:05.440 hasn't changed his sales pattern, and he's now become a 386 00:21:05.599 --> 00:21:09.640 failing fool because he can't Actually he's not progressed. He 387 00:21:09.680 --> 00:21:12.960 needs to be more like Roma, but he's so fixated 388 00:21:13.000 --> 00:21:15.640 on the old ways will work, and he just needs 389 00:21:15.640 --> 00:21:18.079 to give it enough time to make them work, but 390 00:21:18.359 --> 00:21:21.400 it won't. He needs to move on. So he's not 391 00:21:21.440 --> 00:21:28.160 a good salesman anymore because of his arrogance with So 392 00:21:28.519 --> 00:21:31.119 and his connection in this really with Williamson is the 393 00:21:31.160 --> 00:21:36.519 interesting one because Williamson, when they first get given the 394 00:21:36.519 --> 00:21:39.119 task that they have to sell the most or be fired. 395 00:21:39.759 --> 00:21:43.799 He immediately goes to Williamson to try and bribe him 396 00:21:43.920 --> 00:21:48.039 into giving him some of the new Glengarry Leeds. Williamson's 397 00:21:48.039 --> 00:21:50.480 answer is, you've got the same chance as everybody else, 398 00:21:50.960 --> 00:21:54.839 because basically he's given the same tract to everybody. Now, 399 00:21:54.880 --> 00:21:57.680 over the course of the story, Williamson actually gives away 400 00:21:57.680 --> 00:21:59.799 that he doesn't give an equal amount of Director w 401 00:21:59.799 --> 00:22:04.359