Although this film is primarily set in just 2 locations, its an absolute belter. Superb performances from the best line-up of actors I've ever seen in one movie along with a compelling script. Alec Baldwin's speech is arguably the best thing I have ever witnessed on screen. If you like dialogue filled Tarantino scenes, check this film out asap!

This is a great story that Mamet shows with his dialogue and the film makers retained some of the visual elements of the theater with a minimal change in sets. It is a tragic story of real estate salesmen struggling to close that deal. Mamet develops great characters with great performances by Jack Lemmon, Al Pacino, and Alec Baldwin.

Every aspect of this film should have received an award nomination. Every aspect of this film is done to a point. It's a play on the big screen, but it's an intense and introspective search of human desperation in an isolated incident, filmed so perfectly and naturally that the viewer can't doubt its realism. In the style of Arthur Miller, we have a story that may seem to desire the reform of the real estate industry, but that's absurd. It is an examination of the human reaction to having their back to the wall. Calm; negotiations; bribery; dirty deals; thievery; crime; and desperation.We have a film of immensely emotional and carefully constructed dialogue. Mamet builds the characters and feelings of the real estate agents through each line of dialogue. The screenplay dictates more a character study than a plot. The slow reveal of events only works to further characterize and emphasize personality.With such great characters in the film, they need great performances to make them come alive. Jack Lemmon leads the pack by far. Cheated out of a nomination, it feels like Lemmon is playing himself – a washed up character who once was the best. You can see the pain, the desperation, and the raw emotion on his face, but you can hear it in each line delivered. Lemmon leads the film and drives the character study, and he is the main subject. Al Pacino delivers a finely tuned and seasoned role that supports Lemmon' character through his downfall. Alec Baldwin punches out a brief performance with an intensity that the catalyst for the entire film needs. Alan Arkin is the pathetic one that was always pathetic. Arkin reads between the lines and conveys a convincing character. Ed Harris plays the character of rage and revenge, the one who has always been cheated, maybe an alcoholic – and Harris gets it right. Kevin Spacey, unfortunately, is dull and blah. His character is supposed to be a stone statue, but even a statue can have a fire in his eye.James Foley directs a monster of a cast through a delicate screenplay, turning in a beautiful film. The piece takes place in a naturally built production design, complete with a Chinese restaurant and a real estate office. But everything is buried too deep under the natural realism of the film. The emotions are perfect, but somewhat stale. It feels like a sweet glazed jelly donut without the jelly. There's a beautiful film that has substance, but no essence. Here, we have the 'Death of a Real Estate Agent', but just one notch below "Death of a Salesman."

As someone who's seen tons of movie clips and references, I had no idea that this was the movie that I kept hearing about. I remember watching the scene with Alec Baldwin before but apparently forgot what movie it came from. I was so pleasantly surprised to see it here again! I remember an Al Pacino soundboard with him saying he was Richard Roma and once again, I had no clue this was the movie where it came from. It was so cool to see these little video and audio clips I had seen and heard before come to life here! Anyway, the movie's only fault is probably how Alec Baldwin should have appeared more.I thought he was going to be the new boss in this company, but he was just there as a motivational speaker. Al Pacino of course makes this movie. I was really impressed at how they took such an adult concept and put it in a movie that was only 100 minutes long. Normally, you'd think a film that iconic with such big name actors would be long and epic. I'm not complaining at all. This movie was still great and I loved how it seemed to be really saying something about business. I'm not into real estate or big stuff like that, but I did think it's something most workers can identify with. It's worth its reputation, even if I couldn't identify it at first. ***1/2