{"id":2932,"date":"2025-04-01T20:17:07","date_gmt":"2025-04-01T20:17:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/nationalgunowner.org\/index.php\/2025\/04\/01\/does-kieran-culkin-close-the-deal-in-glengarry-glen-ross\/"},"modified":"2025-04-01T20:17:12","modified_gmt":"2025-04-01T20:17:12","slug":"does-kieran-culkin-close-the-deal-in-glengarry-glen-ross","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nationalgunowner.org\/index.php\/2025\/04\/01\/does-kieran-culkin-close-the-deal-in-glengarry-glen-ross\/","title":{"rendered":"Does Kieran Culkin Close the Deal in \u2018Glengarry Glen Ross\u2019?\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Kieran Culkin and Bob Odenkirk in Glengarry Glen Ross<\/em> EMILIO MADRID<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

You\u2019ve seen the articles where researchers find a correlation between swearing and IQ: the more you curse, the smarter you are. Hell shitting ass damn right, say I. No doubt David Mamet, bard of potty-mouthed jags, would admit to being in possession of a galaxy brain. Does said genius status extend to the trash-talking salesmen of his 1983 watershed, <\/span>Glengarry Glen Ross<\/span><\/i><\/a>? Are they the brightest bulbs, these peddlers of subprime property to gullible Chicagoans? They cuss a blue mile, exchange f-bombs with the syncopated acumen of a jazz band. But these bastard sons of Willy Loman will always be dumb beasts in a zoo called capitalism.<\/span><\/p>\n

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The overarching joke of Mamet\u2019s swift, two-act piece is that the men may jockey for supremacy on the office board which ranks who closed the most deals, but they\u2019re all betas. Yes, we know the alpha-beta discourse is bunk, but it\u2019s the sort of social Darwinism these mooks would endorse in a second. They prowl the jungle with their \u201cleads\u201d to find a mark to pounce on, sell them a Glengarry Highlands lot in Florida, puff the client up with machismo and a sense of destiny. That\u2019s the predatory dance we watch at the end of the first act, as office hotshot Ricky Roma (Kieran Culkin<\/a>) reels in James Lingk (John Pirruccello<\/a>)\u2014a bland fellow he just met in the Chinese restaurant near the office. \u201cYou get befuddled by a middle-class morality?\u201d Ricky asks. \u201cGet <\/span>shut<\/span><\/i> of it. Shut it out.\u201d This nearly unbroken monologue over four pages touches on a central Mamet theme: action in the moment is all that matters; ethics, fate, fear of the future, that\u2019s just <\/span>talk<\/span><\/i>. The scene ends with Roma pulling out a map of Florida and going in for the kill.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Bill Burr and Michael McKean in Glengarry Glen Ross<\/em> EMILIO MADRID<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

This scene ought to crackle with homosocial glee and a backwash of bile as we, like Lingk, swallow Roma\u2019s dollar-store Ayn Rand jive. But the pitch doesn\u2019t land\u2014not on this side of the lights. Culkin\u2019s manic adolescent persona works marvelously on <\/span>Succession<\/span><\/i> and the movie <\/span>A Real Pain<\/span><\/i><\/a>, but his casting as Roma is a roll that comes up snake eyes. In casting the talented but limited celebrity, director Patrick Marber<\/a> and the producers invite us to wonder: What if Ricky Roma was obviously insecure and weaselly, alternately cringing and lashing out at those around him, a bit of prick but also a lost boy?\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The comic persona Culkin has honed for years saps Roma\u2019s jazz and bite. The character, indelibly preserved by Al Pacino in the 1992 film and in previous Broadway revivals by Bobby Cannavale and Liev Schreiber, has to be slick and confident. Cracks can show under pressure, but Roma is a shark. The Act I monologue as delivered by Culkin has no shape, no momentum or energy. It\u2019s serious letdown after the strong preceding scenes (also in the restaurant) between office manager Williamson (Donald Webber<\/a>, JR<\/a>.) and struggling veteran Shelly (Bob Odenkirk<\/a>), then bitterly resentful Moss (Bill Burr<\/a>) coercing the aged, exhausted Aaronow (Michael Mckean<\/a>). We learn in those snapshots that there\u2019s a sell-or-be-fired contest, and that Moss is plotting to rob the office and sell the leads to a competitor.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Bob Odenkirk and Donald Webber, Jr. in Glengarry Glen Ross<\/em> EMILIO MADRID<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Culkin redeems himself somewhat in the second half, set in the ransacked office the next morning, since he has more personalities to bounce off. At this point, we\u2019re essentially in a one-act workplace drama following three black-out sketches; a cop in a back office (Howard Overshown<\/a>) interrogates the salesmen one by one as they strut and clash and gossip outside. Ricky has closed his deal with Lingk and won the first prize of a Cadillac; he doesn\u2019t care who stole the leads. Aaronow is understandably jittery and Moss, after distributing fuck-yous to everyone in sight, leaves in a huff. Shelly returns, triumphant after selling $82k of property that he thinks will put him back on the board.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

There\u2019s plenty of great music the ensemble makes out of Mamet\u2019s still-blistering script. Odenkirk\u2019s Shelly takes some time to get cooking, but he captures the desperation and strangely innocent side of the huckster\u2014not surprising qualities from the lead of <\/span>Better Call Saul<\/span><\/i>. There\u2019s a balletic grace to Odenkirk\u2019s slender frame as Shelly enacts the scene of his sale to a shut-in couple. As Williamson, the office tool who suffers the bulk of verbal abuse, Webber Jr. brings unexpected gravitas and quiet strength, eventually turning the tables on his tormentors.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

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Kieran Culkin, Bob Odenkirk, Michael McKean and Bill Burr in Glengarry Glen Ross<\/em> EMILIO MADRID<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The real discovery is Burr, who luxuriates in Mamet\u2019s staccato fragments and torrents of profanity with natural ease. His sneering Boston accent a fine substitute for the Chicago inflection, Burr is alive up there, bursting with indignation and contempt for the business, his coworkers, himself. Although scrupulous precision with every word and bit of punctuation is required to pull off Mamet, Burr has a stand-up comedian\u2019s looseness that suits Moss\u2019s venomous, unhinged rants. Burr elevates every scene he\u2019s in with his edgy discontent.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

This is my third <\/span>Glengarry<\/span><\/i> revival in 20 years. It\u2019s never not relevant. We love a bullshit artist; we love them to the White House. The casting, as it is here, may be uneven, but the message is still billboard size: Sell yourself and you\u2019ll go far. Got a phone? Sell yourself on that. Always Be Closing. Oh, wait. That\u2019s another version of <\/span>Glengarry<\/span><\/i>. One you can stream for a fraction of the cost of a Broadway ticket. You buy, you don\u2019t buy, the same to me. I made my pitch.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Glengarry Glen Ross <\/i><\/b>| 1hr 45mins. One intermission. | Palace Theatre | 160 West 47th Street | 844-753-7397 |\u00a0<\/b>Buy Tickets Here<\/i><\/a><\/strong>\u00a0<\/strong>\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\"Review:<\/p><\/div>\n