"Coffee's for closers" Glengarry Glen Ross poll

can only be "Fuck you, that's my name. You know why mister? Cause you drove a Hyundai to get here tonight, I drove an 80,000 dollar BMW. That's my name."

ABC. A, Always, B, Be, C, Closing. Always be closing. Always be closing.

"Fuck you, that's my name", ftw.

These have all been committed to memory by every scumbag salesman in every office I've worked in for at leat the past ten years. Oh, irony.

Gotta go with 'You get the picture? You laughing now?' when he does that hands-in-his-pockets sideways move.

Where the fuck was his oscar nomination??

genius poll

Baldwin is great but I think he actually gives the weakest performance in this movie.

I voted for "Nice guy? I don't give a shit. Good father. Fuck you, go home and play with your kids. You want to work here, close."

Get them to sign on the line which is dotted.

Attention. Interest. Decision. Action. Attention. Do I have your attention? Interest. Are you interested? I know you are 'cause it's fuck or walk.

http://www.joelogon.com/images_temp/glengarry_abc224x150.jpg

Always Blame Courtney

i loved this movie when it came out but the constant, pythonite recounting of its lines suggests that there are way more people who actually admire the kind of philosophy spouted by its bullshit protagonists than i thought

reminds me of the traders in "the boiler room" sitting around watching wall street and saying every line along with it

in the same way that the python-quoters obviously support the people's front of judea.

reminds me of the traders in "the boiler room" sitting around watching wall street and saying every line along with it

-- Tracer Hand, Tuesday, 13 November 2007 14:46 (1 minute ago) Bookmark Link

^^^ this dude = not liquid

As you all know, first prize is a Cadillac El Dorado. Anybody want to see second prize? Second prize is a set of steak knives. Third prize is your fired. You get the picture? You laughing now?

hon. mention: "Fuckin' leads are weak? You're weak."

These have all been committed to memory by every scumbag salesman in every office I've worked in for at leat the past ten years. Oh, irony.

this and goodfellas, yeah.

the controller at the startup i used to be at a decade ago had a banner in his office that read "Fuck you, pay me."

If you wanna pick the best line from the PLAY, of course, you hafta eliminate Baldwin (character written for the film).

will bear that in mind.

Always Blame Courtney??

it's all your fault, apparently.

playing this w/ glengarry sounds effects was so much fun.

coffee's for closers sets the tone nicely.

good thread/poll

I love Boiler Room. Vin Diesel is in it.

I mean DUH.

Laurel, that wasn't good enough for Find Me Guilty

I've never seen this movie.

"Nice guy? I don't give a shit. Good father. Fuck you, go home and play with your kids. You want to work here, close."

Beating heart of capitalism right there.

No "GO TO LUNCH", no credibility.

That is not a line in Alec Baldwin's speech.

If you want to start a poll of the entire script of GGR, go for it.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=3HURJNd0J4U

I've been in corporate "training" sessions in which scenes from "Wall Street" were screened. My protestation of "Don't these guys all go to prison in the end?" was met with stoney silence and shit-eating grins.

I bet a lot of smack-heads enjoy Trainspotting too.

sexyDancer, envisioning you subverting corp training has brightened my day, thx dude.

You didn't specify the speaker in the poll, Nick.

it is a test

YOU FAILED

Too late, I already had TWO CUPS of coffee.

favourite lines from this are pretty much all pacino though

get me a stickagum, nyalshwyahowdachewit.

Great poll

I went with the "Hyundai" line, though also was considering: "I'm here from downtown. I'm here from Mitch and Murray. And I am here on a mission of mercy!" and "...the *real* favor is to take my advice and fire your fuckin' ass", the way the sentences flow for the former, and the caustic bite for the latter.

I don't think that because people know or rattle off the lines so well that they necessarily endorse the philosophy. It's a movie like "Goodfellas"...great/memorable dialogue.

It seems like these lines would just be fun to say, too, like physically.

i've already said teh coffee line once today
it was fun!

there's a relish people take in them which sort of freaks me out

this speech used to be a HUGE favorite for audition monologues

actorish types secretly want to be killworthy salesmen fux

similar skill set

Baldwin is great but I think he actually gives the weakest performance in this movie.

-- n/a, Tuesday, November 13, 2007 9:12 AM (3 hours ago) Bookmark Link

yeah I kinda feel the same way. great role but he doesn't really kill it the way he does in later roles that demand some of the same things, like The Departed.

the line i chose was, "These are the new leads. These are the Glengarry leads. And to you, they're gold. And you don't get them. Why? Because to give them to you is just throwing them away. They're for closers. "

i like the way baldwin delivers that one.

i think the "problem" (coz wtf, this is a great scene) there is he doesn't have enough to bounce off -- harris is kind of too weak.

"You are a shithead, Williamson" if it were an overall poll, followed by Pacino's "company man" monologue.

Then "fuck you, that's MY name."

Also n/a OTM about the lines just being fun to say.

Lemmon owns this movie. the rest of it is kinda meh.

yeah lemmon is so fucking incredible in this

yeah I kinda feel the same way. great role but he doesn't really kill it the way he does in later roles that demand some of the same things, like The Departed.

i couldn't get past his ridiculous attempt at a southie accent.

These have all been committed to memory by every scumbag salesman in every office I've worked in for at leat the past ten years. Oh, irony.

-- Dr Morbius, Tuesday, November 13, 2007 2:03 PM (4 hours ago) Bookmark Link

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TROhlThs9qY (read the 'about the video' part)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3HURJNd0J4U

"what are you gonna do about it... asshole?"

Kevin Spacey is such a goddamned boring actor

Lemmon's the one guy I don't buy for a minute. Too much acting in his acting.

Pacino and Lemmon's pas de deux for Jonathan Pryce's benefit is my favorite scene.

Lemmon's good to great, with a couple of ridiculous moments when he does his patented pleading-for-sympathy wheeze that throws me out of the movie: he makes us feel sorry for the character.

Baldwin is great but I think he actually gives the weakest performance in this movie.

-- n/a, Tuesday, November 13, 2007 9:12 AM (3 hours ago) Bookmark Link

yeah I kinda feel the same way. great role but he doesn't really kill it the way he does in later roles that demand some of the same things, like The Departed.

-- Alex in Baltimore, Tuesday, November 13, 2007 6:09 PM (52 minutes ago) Bookmark Link

I didn't mean anything about Baldwin, I think he's great (as I said), I just think basically everyone else in this movie is amazing. I think Lemmon is perfect. His acting style is different, more "actory" then everyone else in the movie, but it works because he's of a different generation, so it makes sense that he's different, less hard and more schmaltzy (as seen when he switches into salesman mode).

"Lemmon's good to great, with a couple of ridiculous moments when he does his patented pleading-for-sympathy wheeze that throws me out of the movie: he makes us feel sorry for the character."

yeah, cuz god forbid anyone in the film should give a performance that doesnt allow us total & unabashed scorn for his character. where are you coming from here alfred?

That Lemmon gives the same goddamn performance in every serious film but this time it almost fits?

the character's a sack of shit; that's how it's written.

& portraying him as the sad sack of shit that he in fact is makes him a lot more memorable & interesting

and my memory of how Lemmon always does the shirt tugging and bathos and tears in every other serious performance gets in the way.

Could probably have a Best of Mamet poll. House of Games has provided me with some good jokey catchphrases to share with friends, like "Because I *WON* that money from ya baby!"

I love Glengarry, though I've only seen the original Mamet stage version...

you should see the movie

Ugh "coffee's for closers" is used around here by the sales wankers. AARGH KILL. Still never seen this film, mind.

ohyeah this reminded me to bump the thread abt "the unit" even though i have this feeling not v many people are watching it at least people on ilx - underrated! and i don't think it's just me giving it too much credit or reading into it or whatever, no, i think it treads this amazing line btwn subversive and mainstream yet isn't fence-sitting - maybe it's like the psychic paper of tv shows or something - you see what you want to see

haha from wikipedia entry for the unit:

In episode 13 ("The Wall"), Mack offers Bob a cup of coffee, who says, "Coffee's for closers" - a reference to the play Glengarry Glen Ross, written by David Mamet, who also writes The Unit.

Say this to salespeopl...

"You seen "Glengarry Glen Ross"? "

ans: yeah

"THAT MOVIE OWNZ YOU!!"

sue2007bu (1 week ago)
This clip makes me happy I don't work in sales anymore. The day I quit was the happiest day of my life.

HustlingVegas (5 days ago)
good u dont belong in sales in the first place, you're weak

I like how he half-assedly mimes drinking a shot after saying: "Oh yeah, I used to be a salesman. It's a tough racket." He can hardly stand to even PRETEND to be that guy.

Automatic thread bump. This poll is closing tomorrow.

These have all been committed to memory by every scumbag salesman in every office I've worked in for at leat the past ten years. Oh, irony.

-- Dr Morbius, Tuesday, November 13, 2007 2:03 PM (4 hours ago) Bookmark Link

ha ha, too true. i once tried to fuck with a smarmy rep by getting her to recite the ABC's. when she feigned ignorance i blurted "Always Be Selling.. wait, no, that's not right..", then she replied sales wouldn't be my forté.

also, since it hasn't been posted yet

this

Automatic thread bump. This poll's results are now in.

OK, I have now seen the scene.

It reads better in this thread than it performs in the clip.

(The "Brass balls" bit is corny as hell)

It was more like someone walking into the set of that retired cops prog (UK) "New Tricks" (or is it "Old Dogs"?), shabby suits, etc. The surprise is not the bloke handing out the arsekicking, it's more that the characters in the office are in sales at all.

Then, I didn't see the film, and hey, if that's the best scene, job done, right?

Has the Always Be Cobbling sketch on SNL been linked yet?

http://youtube.com/watch?v=nqBXl0tVzv0

"You road a hedgehog to work. I got here on a talking moose."

And sorry if these have been mentioned, but Mammet got inspiration from the documentary Salesman, right? And Gil, on the Simpsons, is based on Jack Lemmon's Glengarry character, right?

Oh, and Baldwin roolz in this scene/you guyz R high.

Mamet got the inspiration from being the office manager (Spacey) in a real estate office on Peterson Road in Chicago when he was in his early twenties.

Fuck you, that's my name. You know why mister? Cause you drove a Hyundai to get here tonight, I drove an 80,000 dollar B

icycle

And to answer your question, pal: Why am I here? I came here because Mitch and Murray asked me to, they asked me for a f

iver and i said sorry guys i don't have any money but i'll go talk to those guys at your office if you want and do that funny thing with the balls

Get out there. You got the prospects coming in, you think they came in to get out of the rain? A guy don't walk on the l

eft side of the road usually

These are the new leads. These are the Glengarry leads. And to you, they're gold. And you don't get them. Why? Because t

hey're in my other pants

You see this watch? You see this watch? That watch costs more than your car. I made 970,000 dollars last year, how much

pennies is that

And you know what you'll be saying. Bunch of losers sitting around in a bar: ''Oh yeah, I used to be a salesman. It's a

guy who goes around selling stuff

Go and do likewise, gents. The money's out there, you pick it up, it's yours, you don't, I got no sympathy for you. You

guys

'Cause you're talkin' about what...you're talkin' 'bout...bitchin' about that sale you shot, some son of a bitch don't w

ear anything strapless

AIDA. Attention. Interest. Decision. Action. Attention. Do I have your attention? Interest. Are you interested? I know y

oga tricks

Do you write for the Simpsons by any chance?

Actually, you know what? I changed my mind.

That bit was the brass balls is actually very telling.

For all that the guy is kicking their asses and angry and all that, producing the brass balls when he did suddenly deflates the whole thing into a performance.

Which is the point, right?

http://www.eballz.com/new/daballz.html

Those are the best, Dick Tanner.

hey i saw this for the first time this weekend. who is better: jack lemmon or al pacino in this movie???

Jack Lemmon.

Pacino doesn't cry – he wins.

Is that the missing line from the top speech?

yeh i think it's jack lemmon

FWIW:
On the DVD, there's an interview with Lemmon where he says his aim was to not make the character sympathetic at all. In fact, he told the director/other actors to warn him if his performance was letting too much sympathy in.

Was the Alec Baldwin/Blake character written into the Movie Script or was he in the original play (saw a production w/out him and am unsure)?

written especially for baldwin for the movie iirc.

There was an interview with Theo Paphides, in "The Word", this movie was mentioned but Theo hadn't seen it and didn't know it. He wrote the name of it down.

Hope he enjoyed it.

Ok, because today I talked to someone who had seen the same production, and complained that the Alec Baldwin character wasn't in it. Incidentally when I saw it on stage, I thought Alec Baldwin played an extant character, and only realized he was someone else after.

I like how he half-assedly mimes drinking a shot after saying: "Oh yeah, I used to be a salesman. It's a tough racket." He can hardly stand to even PRETEND to be that guy.

― Lie Bot, Wednesday, November 14, 2007 6:26 PM (3 years ago) Bookmark

Haha, I just decided that this is my favorite part of the scene, the way he pantomimes taking a shot makes me die laughing every time

Dick Tanner ftw in this thread...

so given that Mamet wrote this almost 30 years ago, you don't think he LIKED these characters, do you? Wouldn't that be retroactively tarring his past work with his recent looney-tunes politics?

another Broadway revival rumored, w/ Pacino as Shelly Levene.

http://gothamist.com/2012/06/12/glengarry_glen_ross_revival_planned.php

the ultra-camp "go to lunch" is defo my favourite.

"second prize is a set of steak knives, third prize is your fired" should have won this in walk

http://www.metacafe.com/watch/hl-3889642/saturday_night_live_glengarry_glen_christmas_season_31/

Baldwin redoes Glen Garry Glen Ross in the above clip on SNL -- it's corny but I still get a kick out of it

best part is when his brain thinks he's in the real play!

I love that.

I mean, it must be like memorizing a song, the beats are already so carved into your head that you just go on autopilot. Especially for dialogue like that Glen Garry scene.

thread revive regret

did cable air this often? I'm amazed how many people have seen this over the years.

sorry morbs :)

Pacino would do great with Levene's opening monologue. He also is at his best when playing someone who can't shout and control the room (Donnie Brasco, The Insider)--another reason this could be great.

yes Al, no more shoutin'. I hope he would lose the weird primped black hair for this role and play it like he's 72 (he is).

yeah al's just for men addiction creeps me out

They should get Gosling to do Williamson.

Only thing I think this piece gets wrong is that the speech is more about making the stakes clear at the start.

http://www.avclub.com/articles/why-glengarry-glen-ross-alec-baldwin-scene-is-so-u,82782/

Lemme buy ya a pack of gum -- I'll show ya how to chew

I guess I should crosspost the HAL PACINO 2001 video

did cable air this often? I'm amazed how many people have seen this over the years.

I actually saw this in a high school class!

http://thehairpin.com/2012/08/notes-from-an-all-female-glengarry-glen-ross-viewing-party

N: What if David Mamet was actually just Jared from Subway?

That hairpin piece is so annoying lol

V cool movie I worked doing admin stuff in a sales office once. V weird environment. I knew all about leads lol

I can't tell if you're quoting someone or if you're posting on ilx. The hairpin piece was funny and kinda insightful.

idk struck me as privileged grumbling from ppl who'd never stepped inside a shitty sales office

N: He’s not very encouraging.
AH: This is how you encourage a group of old men. You yell at them and belittle them. Remind them how weak they are.
N: I find it to be almost like nonsense, like I can’t — I can’t make sense of it. What is it that people like about this movie? Is it like, human? Is it true in any way?

yes

Yeah, I can see it that way, but I can also see why they think the movie's kind of over the top and unrelatable. Not every facet of being human is especially relatable to other humans (not an especially helpful truism, but it reconciles your and their povs), and in light of that, their questions and comments are fair. Plus, I think they're trying to entertain each other and their audience, so I don't junk it's fair to characterize what they said as grumbling.

GGR's in this class of movie about men that's ostensibly critical of certain male-centric institutions (like the mob) that at the same time seems to lionize some of the worst aspects of those institutions. Upthread morbs makes a comment about the shift in Mamet's politics, and I don't know his work too well, but considering GGR and Oleander, both of which I've read, I wonder if his politics have just calcified (which I think is what Morbs was wondering, too).

Anyway, that doesn't mean that GGR doesn't say anything of value about sales, real estate, the 80s, middle aged men, or capitalism.

The movie also makes statement on importance of coffee imo

pretty sure Mamet's language is not aspiring to big R Realism

none of this is to say i can't understand why you wouldn't like this thing by an unlikeable playwright about unlikeable characters behaving unlikeably

right it's not that i dont get why people wouldn't like it—its obv about a very particular culture (and masculine as it may be, I think its being underestimated maybe cuz the movie focused on men how many women have similar jobs w/ the same pressures—the office I worked in, the leading sales person was female, and the women were often doing better than a number of the dudes) (nb everyone was kind of sad).

but it's the feigned ignorance i guess that bothers me, the "who would live like this" stuff...idk, maybe a guy trying to take care of his daughter in the hospital? an average working person?

finding it tough to watch makes sense, the faux naif thing just bothers me for some reason

the best sales person in the office was a woman—and she was also known for using extra sleazy sales tactics to move the units they needed

yeah the culture of sales is in no way a uniquely male one, any more than the culture of office (micro)aggression is

and for most people, if you don't think bullying happens in yr workplace, you're probly the bully

The Wolf of Wall Street seems similarly dated. When I saw it, I thought of all these guys getting rich selling things over the phone, when now no one will pick up the phone to talk to a stranger, let alone their friends.

Daniel Pink has a good chronicle of how sales has fundamentally changed when both parties have access to the same information.

Also, related to D's comment, when I saw In The Company of Men I remember that the pack-mentality reminded me more of groups of saleswomen than men in the offices where I temped at the time.

Glengarry in a very specific way feels of the 1979-80 recession, the same "I got debts that no honest man can pay" of Nebraska, with the same underlying story being that there was no way for a weak-performing salesman to get the leads that would keep him from being a weak-performing salesman.

this movie is incredibly dated, but i still liked it. needs a reboot/sequel.

one where the coffee is gritty

The timeline confuses me. Roma, Levene etc believe Williamson that he "filed the contracts at the bank" even though it's night when they leave the office and obv no banks are open?

Ha, I never thought about that.

Well, now the clocks have moved over here, it gets dark before the banks close.

Banks in grocery stores used to be open late.

I doubt Williamson was dropping real estate contracts at a Safeway bank kiosk.

show of hands: how many ilxors in retail have been shown the Alec Baldwin clip by their supervisors?

Fantastic.

that is amazing.

That's almost too good to be a mere clickbait parody, even as great as clickhole is.

lol at punctuation at 1:20

its a labor of love, which all the best clickhole stuff is

listen

i got 48 hours to make you a loootta money

will you go to lunch

^ this is the real line to use at work, nm aida or abc

Go to lunch, George.

The Machine!

Don’t think anyone’s mentioned Roma’s burn of Williamson: “Who told you you could work with men!?”

I think about it all the time