Glengarry Glen Ross is a 1992 American black comedy-drama film directed by James Foley and written by David Mamet, based on his 1984 Pulitzer Prize-winning play.

[3] The title of the film is derived from the names of two of the real-estate developments being peddled by the salesmen: Glengarry Highlands and Glen Ross Farms.

The real-estate salesmen Richard Roma, George Aaronow, Sheldon "Shelley The Machine" Levene, and Dave Moss are supplied with leads (the names and phone numbers of prospects) and use deceitful and dubious sales tactics.

In a torrent of verbal abuse, he gives them notice of termination and tells them that only the top two deal-closers of the month (with one week to go) will keep their jobs and gain access to promising leads for the new and lucrative Glengarry Highlands development.

Roma, the office's top closer, manipulates a meek, middle-aged man named James Lingk into buying a property.

Producer Jerry Tokofsky read the play on a trip to New York City in 1985 at the suggestion of director Irvin Kershner, who wanted to make it into a film.

Zupnik agreed to pay Mamet's $1 million asking price, figuring that they could make a deal with a cable company to bankroll the production.

He reportedly left the project over a contract disagreement, the real reason being that Pacino was still being considered for Roma and would be cast over Baldwin if he elected to accept the role.

"[7] Tokofsky's lawyer Jake Bloom called a meeting at the Creative Artists Agency, who represented many of the actors involved, and asked for their help.

[4] Other actors, like Robert De Niro, Bruce Willis,[4] Richard Gere and Joe Mantegna,[5] expressed interest in the film.

With a budget of $12.5 million, filming began in August 1991 at the Kaufman Astoria Studios in Queens, New York, and on location in Sheepshead Bay, Brooklyn, over 39 days.

Film critics and journalists have placed the setting in Chicago because of the many verbal references, including the Como Inn and Peterson and Western Avenues.

[14] Glengarry Glen Ross had its world premiere at the Venice Film Festival, where Jack Lemmon won the Volpi Cup for Best Actor.

The consensus reads, "This adaptation of David Mamet's play is every bit as compelling and witty as its source material, thanks in large part to a clever script and a bevy of powerhouse actors.

[18] Owen Gleiberman, in his review for Entertainment Weekly, gave the film an "A" rating, praising Lemmon's performance as "a revelation" and describing his character as "the weaselly soul of Glengarry Glen Ross–Willy Loman turned into a one-liner".

[19] In his review for the Chicago Sun-Times, Roger Ebert wrote, "Mamet's dialogue has a kind of logic, a cadence, that allows people to arrive in triumph at the ends of sentences we could not possibly have imagined.

[20] The Chicago Tribune's Dave Kehr hedged his praise, writing that the film was "a well written, well staged and well acted piece, though there is something musty in its aesthetic - that of the huge, bellowing method performance, plastered over a flimsy, one-set world".

[21] Newsweek's Jack Kroll observed, "Baldwin is sleekly sinister in the role of Blake, a troubleshooter called in to shake up the salesmen.

[22] In his review for The New York Times, Vincent Canby praised the portrayal of "the utterly demonic skill with which these foulmouthed characters carve one another up in futile attempts to stave off disaster.

It's also because of the breathtaking wizardry with which Mr. Mamet and Mr. Foley have made a vivid, living film that preserves the claustrophobic nature of the original stage work.

"[23] In his review for Time, Richard Corliss wrote, "A peerless ensemble of actors fills Glengarry Glen Ross with audible glares and shudders.

The play was zippy black comedy about predators in twilight; the film is a photo-essay, shot in morgue closeup, about the difficulty most people have convincing themselves that what they do matters.

[26][27] In 2012, on the 20th anniversary of its release, David Wagner of The Atlantic dubbed it a cult classic,[28] and Tim Grierson of Deadspin cited it as one of the "quintessential modern movies about masculinity".

[29][30] In 2014, English critic Philip French described the ensemble of Jack Lemmon, Al Pacino, Alan Arkin, Ed Harris, Kevin Spacey and Alec Baldwin as "one of the best American casts ever assembled".