Glengarry Glen Ross
With one exception, however, Marber's cast of notable wisecrackers treats Mamet's punchy dialogue solely like punchlines, even when they're face down on the canvas. As Shelley "The Machine" Levene, a loser among losers, Bob Odenkirk opens an Act I triptych of two-handers that are all set within a capacious Chinese restaurant, nonsensically designed by Scott Pask to indicate a gigantic establishment apparently getting along just fine serving no more than a couple of liquid-lunchers at a time. On the verge of being fired for bringing up the rear in a sales contest for a shiny new Cadillac--that old-timey signifier of virile American success--Levene tries to sweatily sweet-talk the best leads from Donald Webber, Jr.'s insensate office manager, a pleading effort that quickly devolves into a pathetic attempt at bribery. [more]
