Film Intros

Glengarry Glen Ross

Playwright David Mamet’s incisive, witty and brutally frank exposés of the American male psyche in pursuit of money, sex and the sheer satisfaction of trampling over your rival to achieve your goal, reached its zenith, or nadir in terms of the behaviour depicted, with his 1983 play set in a cut-throat real-estate office. For the film version of Glengarry Glen Ross (1992) director James Foley insisted on box-office stars to play the major roles of office manager, motivational trainer and four salesmen who fight over the leads (unwary investors to be manipulated into signing a deal) and who regale each other with their methods of achieving closure. Boy did he get his wish! Never in the history of cinema has such a modest indoor scene been the setting for such a roster of renowned actors (too many to name here) to flex their muscles and show their mettle in close-quarter combat. The distinctive personalities and conflicting agendas in Mamet’s brilliant script make for a claustrophobic drama of the highest order in this production. I’m amazed it achieved only a single Oscar nomination.

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0104348/

https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/glengarry_glen_ross

Snow Cake

Snow Cake (2006) is small independent film set in the snow drifts of Ontaria that might have been frozen beneath them without reaching the screen were it not for Alan Rickman accepting the leading male role and enlisting Sigourney Weaver as his co-star. No surprises in Rickman playing the decent, considerate but guilt-ridden visitor to the remote township of Wawa, but it was initially a bit of a shock to see Weaver looking so plain as the unworldly resident he has come to see. It’s a credit to the much lesser-known director Marc Evans and two scriptwriters that my growing interest in the characters and how their relations would develop soon banished the apparent bleakness of their situation. The critics seem a bit sniffy but I’m with the majority of ordinary punters in finding this a highly involving domestic drama with some original twists, a good mix of the serious and humorous, and of course beautifully acted by the two principals as well as the supporting actors. I’ve said almost nothing about the story, leaving it as virgin territory for the first-time viewer to discover.

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0448124/

https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/snow_cake