Glengarry Glen Ross: Establishing Character
How David Mamet builds character through seamlessly natural character interaction and dialogue.
More than anything, great characters are the key aspect of the most enduring films. We forge an emotional connection with these characters that allows us to empathize, sympathize, or even hate them. Ultimately, they invite us to experience their emotions and motives, and provide a distinct perspective on the human experience. Film’s primary function is often said to provide a form of escapism for an audience. To get away from our own lives, we look to the movies to provide us with an alternate reality gifted with experiences the likes of which we’ll never know otherwise. The rise and fall of millionaire Charles Foster Kane is akin to the perilous journey Frodo makes to destroy the One Ring in that we walk away from both feeling more experienced ourselves. The greatest characters can influence us in profound ways that our daily interactions typically don’t, or can’t.
Integral to forming these vital connections is the way in which we learn about these characters. As a visual medium, film is more dependent on action as opposed to description. A script will often include explicit detail about a character like in a novel, but it is all intended to be translated for the screen. This applies not only to the way characters dress and move, but in how they talk and act as well. The manner in which a character behaves is as crucial as anything else when defining their character. Comparatively, when a character is presented to the audience without defining characteristics, or through lackluster exposition, the audience becomes unstimulated and distanced from the character. An audience is more engaged when allowed to interpret and define the actions of characters for themselves, and it is paramount to continually establish characters with every action, or inaction, they take. Therefore, it is pertinent that the best way to engage an audience is to begin establishing character from the moment they are on screen, and every moment thereafter should cohere with it. Glengarry Glen Ross (1992) is a primary example that excels in the importance of establishing characters.
Glengarry Glen Ross originated as David Mamet’s Pulitzer Prize-winning Broadway play, which premiered in 1983 and ran for 378 performances. Four seasoned salesmen work at a real estate firm, cold-calling houses to sell sub-par land. Dave Moss, Shelley Levene, and George Aaronow are several of the salesman, who are struggling to make their quotas. They all pine after the titular Glengarry leads, believing them to be the solution to their lackluster sales. These new leads, however, are fiercely guarded by the office manager, John Williamson, and are reserved for competent salesmen, a title only hotshot Ricky Roma can claim. Things escalate quickly when the leads go missing and everyone’s a suspect. The film asks why these men are so desperate, and if they truly squandered any potential they once had. It’s a film about integrity, pride, and masculinity.
Within just the first 15 minutes of the film, we are introduced to every important character, their relationships to one another, their motivations, and intentions that will drive the plot forward. Each action and line of dialogue builds on the last to realize each character fully, never once betraying their established demeanor. By looking at each character individually, we can see how their actions constantly progress the story, while solidifying the strong foundations of their character established from their very first lines in the film.
Blake:
Glengarry Glen Ross is a bit of an oddity in terms of an adaptation. While most adaptations find they have to cut pieces out or combine plot points or characters, David Mamet didn’t have to cut a word from his play when adapting it for the film. In fact, he added an entirely new character, and a scene to go along with him. Ironically enough, this scene and character are often the most remembered and referenced part of the film. This is, of course, Alec Baldwin’s role as Blake and the “Always Be Closing” speech in the beginning of the film. The relevance of this stand-out performance extends beyond the cultural cornerstone it has become, because the seven minute speech serves a much greater purpose. It elevates the story even above the original text, and establishes the stakes for the characters in the film. In his flashy, abusive, and profanity-filled speech he tells everyone they have one week to make their sales or they’re out of a job. He emphasizes over and over in his famous monologue how unambiguous this matter is.
Shelley barks back in defense, claiming the leads to be the source of their problem; Blake doesn’t hesitate to attack back and degrade the men further. “The fucking leads are weak? You’re weak.” At the end of it all the three men seem numb to the verbal lashing they just received. Not a word seems to have penetrated their denial. They continue to foolishly cling to the leads as their only hope of survival.
Dave Moss:
Each of the three debilitated salesmen exhibit their denial in distinctive ways. In his entrance, Moss barges in already boiling with frustration, quickly venting to Shelley before placing a call to a potential customer. He nearly lashes out at them as soon as they begin to lose interest, and the conversation ends rather abruptly. From this scene, and every other hereafter, Moss’ confrontational ire will be his defining characteristic. The bombastic machismo he displays is a defense mechanism trying to overcompensate for his ineptitude as a salesman. Whenever someone challenges Moss, he will obstinately deflect and deny in an attempt to preserve his whittling pride. He berates Williamson about the leads in the bathroom, he dismisses Blake throughout his tirade, and pins the blame entirely on Mitch & Murray, the unseen owners of the office. Moss’ insistent defiance seemingly justifies his intent of leaving the company for their competitor, Jerry Graff, through some rather shady tactics. He confides this in Shelley, who briefly shares the sentiment along with him, thus planting the seeds for Moss to use Shelley to steal the treasured leads sometime before the second act.
His vehement temperament dwarfs the rest of his personality, and reveals his crippling insecurity. His desperate vulnerability is only revealed in the final moments of the film, with his departing diatribe. The evidence of his critical flaws, though, have been present throughout the film, masked by the veneer of his inflated attitude.
George Aaronow:
Aaronow’s presence in the beginning of the film is brief as he only has five lines of dialogue, most of which only serve to question why Blake is in the office. Despite this, we can still tell a lot about him, most notably in the way we see him juxtaposed with the other characters in the film, starting with his “entrance.” All the other characters are introduced by walking into a scene already in progress: Moss walks in while Shelley is on the phone, Williamson walks in while Moss and Shelley are in the bathroom, and Roma walks into the end of Williamson and Shelley’s conversation. The only person not to physically enter a scene is Aaronow. He’s already sitting at his desk when Shelley walks in, indicative of his passive nature.
Like Shelley and Moss before him, Aaronow is also quick to blame the leads for his troubles. “All I need is a lead,” he says, but unlike the other two, Aaronow isn’t as quick to dismiss his own shortcomings as a salesman. When Shelley specifically questions his sales tactics regarding the call he just made, Aaronow responds honestly, “What could I do?” He is at least aware that he lacks the tenacity needed to keep a customer engaged. Aaranow’s docile attitude is what ostracizes him as a salesman, and is the source of his ineptitude. He remains a pariah amongst the salesman, devoid of the confidence the rest of the men display. While Shelley and Moss stand up and make objections to Blake’s harassments, Aaronow quietly remains in his chair, turning his eyes away from him and sinking down into his seat. In fact, he doesn’t even leave his seat at all, until Blake’s abusive rant has ended. His inability for confrontation extends even to himself, as he endures this unfulfilling work. Even at the end he remains the sole salesman picking up the phone, despite knowing he doesn’t fit in with this aggressive business.
Shelley Levene:
The film opens on a shot of Shelley placing a phone call, effectively establishing him as our main protagonist. The first call he makes is to a close loved one. Though we don’t learn what the exact relationship Shelley has to this person is until later in the film, there are several indicators that help establish the importance of this relationship. The affectionate and familial way he addresses the person on the other end, as well as a framed picture clearly seen on his desk, illustrates Shelley’s emotional investment in his daughter. The second phone call Shelley makes in the opening scene establishes the urgency of her ailing health, and Shelley’s responsibility to provide for her. After getting off the phone, Shelley adjourns to the bathroom with Moss, commiserating in their shared disdain for their employers. When Williamson abruptly enters the scene, Shelley wastes no time before attempting to coerce the new leads from him by appealing to a potential sympathy.
Despite Williamson denying him multiple times, and his transparent callousness, Shelley persists until he is given a considerably firmer response. Shelley’s desperation for the leads overshadows Moss and Aaronow’s own need for them, as it ends up becoming an all-consuming lust that leads to his ultimate undoing. Shelley’s misplaced faith in the leads blinds him from realizing his capabilities as a salesman, and his tragedy is mournfully displayed in the ironic praise he receives from Roma as he is taken away by the detective after exposing his crime.
John Williamson:
Williamson certainly stands out within the main characters as he is obviously segregated from the rest of them, both physically and psychologically. As the office manager, his stakes and goals diverge considerably from the salesmen he is entrusted with, creating an discernible rift between them. This divide in hierarchy creates an apathetic disposition that Williamson displays towards the men throughout the film, even from his first response. It is made clear that his brusque behavior is at the behest of Mitch & Murray, with Williamson adamantly repeating throughout the film, “I didn’t make the rules, I’m paid to run the office.” Being the immediate connection with Mitch & Murray the salesmen have inadvertently makes him a lightning rod for all of their grievances. When Williamson refuses to bend the rules for Shelley and Moss, they spit vitriol and contempt at him with an almost subhuman regard. Despite this, he remains unmoved by their outbursts, always maintaining his aloof persona. Enduring their onslaughts of abuse is just another requisite of the job to him.
Ricky Roma:
“And where is Mr. Roma?” Williamson asks. Where is Mr. Roma indeed? How does David Mamet establish a character that isn’t really seen until the second half of the film? Surprisingly, the absence of Roma’s presence during the meeting speaks volumes to his character through observational comparison. He is introduced in a brief moment at the restaurant across the street, but instead of following Shelley to the meeting at the office, he strikes up a conversation with a lonely-looking man at the bar, the beginnings of a sales pitch as is later seen. Roma’s name also comes up several times during the meeting in the office. First, when Williamson asks where he is, only for it to be quickly brushed aside so Blake can step in. Moss repeatedly questions his whereabouts as well, until he is silenced by Williamson’s fierce retort. Revealing that Roma is already in possession of the Glengarry leads, it is made clear why Roma wasn’t at this meeting to begin with. Blake’s lecture is aimed specifically at the salesmen who aren’t making sales, and revolves entirely around the suspension of the Glengarry leads, allowing only closers to possess them. Thus, Blake’s speech doesn’t apply to Roma at all, allowing him to better spend his time nurturing a sale back at the restaurant.
Evidence of Roma’s effective salesmanship are evident in visual cues around the office as well. The prominently featured chalkboard in the office shows Roma’s sales far exceed the rest of the men by a considerable margin, and the placement of his desk in the room is in opposition of the rest of the men’s desks, as if to imply that he holds an entirely different perspective. Roma’s character is more fully realized in the latter part of the film with plenty of opportunities for grandiose besmirchment, and ostentatious superiority. His reputation is venerated by the rest of the characters throughout the film, solidifying his superior stature within the office even before he is shown to be worthy of this reputation.
How a cast of characters is established can make or break any film, and the introductions of characters into the story is the first chance an audience has to learn about them. Glengarry Glen Ross masterfully establishes all its important characters from the start, and gives us a complete understanding of their actions and motivations, allowing the audience to be completely engrossed in the film. Glengarry Glen Ross is an absolute classic that’s still impressive 25 years since its release. Its stellar cast is magnified by David Mamet’s signature writing all gracefully complemented by James Foley’s pitch perfect direction. We continue to remember Glengarry Glen Ross not only for the exceptional talent at the helm, but because the film allows us to take in all the information we need to know about these characters without having to disrupt their natural course of action to define them for us. When it comes to establishing character, Glengarry Glen Ross exemplifies in showing us how observation is greater than explanation.
Glengarry Glen Ross and all images used are property of New Line Cinema, under the fair use doctrine of US Copyright Law, for transformative purposes.
