It makes so much sense that this film was originally written as a stage play; very little matters in this movie besides the delivery of dialogue from the actors. The salesman are ostensibly competing for the highest dollar value on the chalkboard, but what they truly desire is the perfection of performance— for their clients, their coworkers, and themselves. While they all seem to be frothing at the mouth at each other over the perceived slights they commit, it’s obvious that the men absolutely relish these heated confrontations and feed off of each other’s energy in the moment.

In centering the story around a skeevy real estate sales group, Mamet illustrates how the act of engaging with a stage performance implicitly involves allowing the actor to dupe you. This could’ve just as easily been a drama set within high finance or big law, but to stoop down to the level of shameless land hawkers working out of a street level apartment is a fantastic move. The salesmen themselves are all treading water in a cutthroat world as they try to pitch unsuspecting civilians on the answers to questions they haven’t even solved on their own. Why would you trust a guy who isn’t himself financially free to sell you a life-changing investment? Well, he’s kind of entertaining, for one— “some people just like talking to salesmen”.

More compellingly, though, it might be because you’re aware of your role as consumer of property, or as an audience member during a performance. You want to be told a story because you want to be able to see yourself in the person relaying it to you, in all their confidence and perseverance. 

The atmospheric lighting and smooth soundtrack are nice touches on what is already a flawless script, and each cast member delivers an absolute all timer to create something incredible.

Watched 12/20/2025