Glengarry Glen Ross (James Foley, 1992): I've been accused on occasion of writing up my Guy Movies as just catalogues of actors . . . like, "It's got Mel Gibson, Steve McQueen, and Rowdy Roddy Piper!" as if that's all the evidence you need that the movie is great. But dern it, sometimes you get such a great bunch of actors together you can't believe your good fortune at having that much talent in one little picture, and you just have to crow about it.

Which brings us to Glengarry Glen Ross. If ever a review cried out to be a catalogue of the acting talent involved, this is it. Write me angry letters tomorrow, but tonight, go out and rent this picture and watch the greatest assemblage of guy actors to ever utter those immortal words of David Mamet, "Fuck you."

Because of course, a David Mamet "Fuck you" isn't any old "fuck you." In college we fetishized this script. "A, B, C, Always Be Closing," "Put that coffee down . . . Coffee is for closers," "Patel?" "Anybody who talks to that asshole is a fuckin' asshole," but especially all the great fuck you lines: "Good father? Fuck you--go home and play with your kids," "'Fuck you,' that's my name" and so on. Okay, so that was my catalogue of great lines. Now here comes the catalogue of great actors:

Alec Baldwin as Blake: The hotshot top salesman who comes to the office on behalf of Mitch & Murray downtown. He's got news for the under-performing salesmen there: "We're adding a little something to this month's sales contest. As you all know, first prize is a Cadillac Eldorado . . . Second prize is a set of steak knives. Third prize is you're fired." That should get those losers motivated to close. But it also gets them desperate.

Al Pacino as Ricky Roma: The only one of the guys who's actually closing. He sells a plot of real estate to a fellow in a bar played by Jonathan Pryce. When the fellow's wife forces him to try to get the money back, Roma pulls out every trick in the book to try to stop it from happening, in one of the most hilarious scenes in the picture. Pryce's character is terrified, and facing divorce and financial ruin, but all the suspense revolves around whether Roma can manage to keep the deal from coming apart. And fuck it, we're pulling for him.

Kevin Spacey as Williamson: The office manager who holds in his possession the coveted Glengarry leads. They're gold to the salesmen, but they only go to closers. These guys will do anything to get their hands on those precious sales leads.

Alan Arkin as Aaronow: In a major slump, he can't even get the names right of the pigeons he's trying to sell. He's almost certainly going to get his ass fired, which is why, for all his timidity, he kind of listens when Moss starts making a proposition . . .

Ed Harris as Moss: As a WASP in an ethnic world, it's no wonder Moss would be a little pissy. But he's got an entrepreneurial mind, and he's thinking why not just steal the Glengarry leads, sell them to Jerry Graff across the street, make some dough and fuck Mitch & Murray in the process. But since he figures he'd be the first suspect, he approaches Aaronow about actually doing to deed.

Jack Lemmon as Shelley "The Machine" Levene: Once the top salesman, but now in a major slump. But on the morning after the office is burglarized and the Glengarry leads stolen, while everyone else is pissed off and shouting at each other, Levene arrives in triumph, having just closed an $80,000 sale. Lemmon's performance is the greatest in the movie, as a desperate man whose best days are long behind him and who has nothing to show for it. We see him on a sit at a prospect's house, using all his tricks to try to close a sale, and having no success. The look on his face as he is thrown out and the door is closed on him--he's reaching, trying to find something inside himself that can turn this around, but it's just slipping away--is heartbreaking. (His character is the model for Gil, the unsuccessful salesman on "The Simpsons".) Also noticeable is how much he swears in this movie. Hearing Lemmon say "Fuck you" not once but repeatedly is a heady experience.

So for great drama, great performances, and more "Fuck you"s than you can shake a stick at, Glengarry Glen Ross is a picture not to be missed.