When I say that Sarah Polley's film Women Talking reminded me of Glengarry Glen Ross, it is meant as a compliment. I realize that this seems to be a strange comparison, since the films' subject matter is quite different, but as the great Roger Ebert was apt to say, "It's not what a movie is about, it's how it is about it". As is correctly advertised in the title, Women Talking consists primarily of women talking, and David Mamet's screenplay for Glengarry Glen Ross consists almost exclusively of men talking. In the first film, a small group of women meet in a barn in the middle of their village, to decide whether to depart in a mass exodus, or stay and and fight the abusive men of their community. Each woman has come to the meeting with her own agenda, and preconceptions of what decision should be made, and it is only through a vigorous dialogue that minds are changed, and a consensus is reached. This premise, when done well can be extremely compelling, i.e. 12 Angry Men, but a film can only be as strong as the arguments that it presents. I take that back, more correctly, a film is as strong as it convinces you that the arguments are. What I mean by that is that even the most ridiculous arguments when presented skillfully can result in a great film, i.e. Braveheart. Think about it, in that film we're presented with what at best is an amalgamation of historical characters, and definitely is more myth than truth, yet it's presented so beautifully that we get pulled in, and accept what we see as something even better than reality. Women Talking is no Braveheart. The following statement may seem harsh, but I am afraid that it captures the underlying problem that I have with Women Talking: There is an extended sequence in which the council of women develop a pros and cons list, basically "should I stay, or should I go?". I can imagine such a list being used during the early drafts of the screenplay, but the way that it is presented in the final film feels like a shortcut, and detracts from the story that is being told.
It is difficult to separate the screenplay for Glengarry Glen Ross from the actors that portray its characters, because the dialogue feels like it was written for them, and each actor is so perfectly cast that you can almost imagine that they came up with their own words. That Kevin Spacey and Alec Baldwin have turned out to be the people that we now know, makes their performances as reprehensible human beings all the more disturbing. I would be remiss if I didn't mention Jack Lemmon's performance, in which he embodied the quintessential tragic salesman, so much so that every loser portrayed on film since 1992 (the year that Glengarry Glen Ross was released) owes something to Lemmon. And then there's Ed Harris, Alan Arkin, and Al Pacino, each so clearly defined that one evening spent with them is more than enough to feel like we know everything about them, yet so nuanced that we have to imagine that the next evening would be a film worth watching too. Like Women Talking, the men of Glengarry Glen Ross spend the entire film discussing their respective predicaments, but instead of searching for common ground, these men use words as weapons, like a no-holds-barred knife fight, where only the man left standing at the end can claim victory. When I first saw this film, about 25 years ago, I remember thinking that it was a strange choice to make a movie about real estate salesmen; it's only now that I come to realize that the characters are employed as real estate salesmen, but that's not at all what the film is about. The reason certain lines of dialogue have resonated for so long in our culture isn't just because they're catchy, but also because the screenwriter, Mamet is revealing something that's universal in our society. The line that Alec Baldwin's character delivers, "coffee's for closers" isn't just relevant to salesmen, it speaks to the attitude that resonates with all Capitalists; there are those who feel like they deserve the coffee, and there are others who know that you have to earn coffee.
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