Glengarry Glen Ross Movie Analysis

After viewing the movie Glengarry Glen Ross (1992), I thought that it was very similar to the play. I felt that the characters in the film were just like the ones in the book. Though it was the same as far as plot and characters, I felt that the movie didn’t represent postmodernism as well as the book did. Since the play was fairly short I knew that the movie would have to expand add more information in. In the first scene instead of Levene trying to convince Williams we see Levene and David Moss trying to make a sale. Though the intro differed in plot here, the characters methods on making a sale were exactly like play. Moss uses force and slight aggression while Levene is shaky and not very persuasive. We also get a glimpse on Ross using

This is where Leveen is trying to talk Williams into giving him some better leads. However, there are some slight differences. Instead of being at the Chinese restaurant, they are both at the office. Also Leveen is sterner than the book yet he still can’t hold Williams attention. I was surprised though, because Levene tightened his belt and was much more convincing than the book portrayed him to sound. At this point in the film I made a connection, Levene reminds me of Gil from “The Simpsons”. I’m not sure if you’ve ever heard of it but he is an exact copy. With further research I actually found out believe it or not, that “Gil is based, in voice & appearance, on Jack Lemmon's portrayal of Shelley Levene in the film version of Glengarry Glen Ross: a nervous, middle-aged man with the inability to hold a steady job due to strings of misfortune that tend to hit him at the worst times” (Gil Gunderson). Here are a couple of clips to show Gil from the Simpsons. In the movie Levene believes he has just made $80k but Wilson knows the check wont cash. Similarly Gil believes he was so close to a sale when we know it was never going to happen. (Ctr ‘Click’ to view)