An exceptional ensemble piece, with remarkable performances from some of the finest actors working today.
A movie about desperate, scrambling, down-on-their-luck real estate salesmen - why should we care about this? Well, we do care about it, as we are drawn into this seedy world by characters that you come to care about.
The dialogue is fantastic, and delivered by actors absolutely on top of their game. Jack Lemmon's sad, pathetic Shelly Levine character is stop-you-in-your-tracks good. A legendary salesman, now broke, insecure and still clinging to outdated sales techniques that used to work for him; powerless to help a daughter in need of extensive medical care; you can feel the sad, defeated rage from Lemmon as he desperately scrambles to convince his out-of-his-element boss (Kevin Spacey) how important he used to be, and how relevant he still is. These are fascinating and emotional scenes.
The movie moves along well, as these guys scheme and schmooze their way through whatever life puts in front of them. Utter and classic B.S. artists who know they have spent their lives lying and rationalizing themselves, but resigned to not knowing any other way.
The only purely honest, human conversations these guys have is with each other, complaining about each other and the conditions that they must work in. Everything else is "closing".
A movie about desperate, scrambling, down-on-their-luck real estate salesmen - why should we care about this? Well, we do care about it, as we are drawn into this seedy world by characters that you come to care about.
The dialogue is fantastic, and delivered by actors absolutely on top of their game. Jack Lemmon's sad, pathetic Shelly Levine character is stop-you-in-your-tracks good. A legendary salesman, now broke, insecure and still clinging to outdated sales techniques that used to work for him; powerless to help a daughter in need of extensive medical care; you can feel the sad, defeated rage from Lemmon as he desperately scrambles to convince his out-of-his-element boss (Kevin Spacey) how important he used to be, and how relevant he still is. These are fascinating and emotional scenes.
The movie moves along well, as these guys scheme and schmooze their way through whatever life puts in front of them. Utter and classic B.S. artists who know they have spent their lives lying and rationalizing themselves, but resigned to not knowing any other way.
The only purely honest, human conversations these guys have is with each other, complaining about each other and the conditions that they must work in. Everything else is "closing".