LAST CHANCE: ‘Glengarry Glen Ross’ with Al Pacino fails to make the sale

David Mamet’s classic Glengarry Glen Ross was given a first-rate revival a few years ago starring Alan Alda and Liev Schreiber. Now Al Pacino and Bobby Cannavale step into the roles of Shelley Levene and Ricky Roma, respectively. The casting is interesting, if for no other reason than Pacino played Roma in the film version, and Cannavale is an exciting force in the New York theater world. Unfortunately, their talents don’t come together in Daniel Sullivan’s tepid revival.

The blame is difficult to pinpoint. Mamet’s words still breathe the requisite fire, but this assembly of actors just can’t let the verbal barbs sing like this poetic profanity should. The opening scene, featuring Pacino and David Harbour, starts things off in the wrong direction. The actors are restricted to sitting at tables in a Chinese food restaurant. Pacino’s Shelley is making a last-ditcth effort to have the boss send him over quality leads to help sell real estate plots at the firm. The down-on-his-luck salesman knows he still has what it takes to impress his colleagues, but he needs the good leads.

Pacino fumbles his way through the scene, constantly repeating himself and inserting “mums” so that Mamet’s rhythm is broken up. Harbour has the chops for the quick-paced banter, but Pacino’s Shelley rendition actually feels tired and old — perhaps truer, but uninteresting.

Cannavale fares better with his Roma, although the characterization relies too much on the obvious. He’s a smooth talker with a shark’s personality, and Cannavale lets this ooze from his pores. He holds his cigarette at just the right angle, crosses his legs with self-assurance, curses with gusto. It’s a perfectly fit portrayal of Roma, but nothing is added to the role.

The set is uninventive, and Sullivan’s direction is typical — nothing more, nothing less. The last revival on Broadway had scenery that alluded to the fact that this sales firm had seen actual business at one point. The set that meets the audience’s eyes in the second act of this revival is so bare that it’s difficult to imagine Roma, a hotshot seller, lasting in such dire digs.

If the two central characters are unable to click, then any Glengarry Glen Ross falls apart. Pacino’s performance seems so lackluster that he appears to be forgetting his lines (whether or not that is the case is immaterial). There’s never a time during this 105-minute show that feels like a well-oiled machine.

In the supporting department, I much liked Jeremy Shamos as a reluctant victim of Roma’s ferocious selling tactics. John C. McGinley is also quite good as another salesman in the firm; he may be the only actor on stage who understands the quality of Mamet’s melange of verbs and nouns. Richard Schiff is largely forgettable.

This Glengarry Glen Ross had an enormous mountain to climb, mostly because the last revival starring Alda and Schreiber still lingers in the minds of Broadway audiences. Comparison to the previous incarnation is necessary, and Pacino’s loses out in a head-to-head battle.

By John Soltes / Publisher / John@HollywoodSoapbox.com

• Glengarry Glen Ross

• Written by David Mamet

• Directed by Daniel Sullivan

• Starring Al Pacino, Bobby Cannavale, David Harbour, Richard Schiff, John C. McGinley, Jeremy Shamos and Murphy Guyer

• Running time: 105 minutes with one intermission

• Currently playing at the Gerald Schoenfeld Theatre at 236 W. 45th St. in New York City. Click here for more information.

• Rating: