It’s nice to see the folks behind the new Broadway revival of “Glengarry Glen Ross” get on the immersive-theater bandwagon. A premium seat is $377, while a cup of soda will set you back $10: Getting fleeced should put you in just the right mood to see David Mamet’s 1983 play about shady hucksters and flimflam men.
Of course, the one reason those ticket prices are so high is because Al Pacino’s in the show. Let’s face it: The masses aren’t clamoring for more Mamet — exhibit A: “The Anarchist,” which is closing two weeks after opening. And we can’t be that starved for “Glengarry,” last seen here less than seven years ago, in an acclaimed production starring Alan Alda and Liev Schreiber.
So it’s all about Pacino, and guess what? He’s good. Not awesomely, life-changingly good. Just good.
The actor’s on familiar terrain here: He appeared in the 1992 movie adaptation as Ricky Roma, the alpha male in a Chicago office of B-list real-estate agents.
Now the 72-year-old Pacino is old enough to play Shelly “The Machine” Levene, the sad sack desperate for one last sale. In turn, Roma’s played by the capable Bobby Cannavale (“The Motherf**ker with the Hat,” TV’s “Boardwalk Empire”).
Pacino’s slow to get started — a problem since he’s key to the first scene, which sets the mood for the entire show.
In the Chinese restaurant where the guys hang out, Levene badgers, baits, begs and finally tries to bribe office manager John Williamson (David Harbour) to feed him “prime leads” to potential clients. The whole play’s here: the small-time deals, the do-or-die need to “get on the board” where sales are recorded, all told in fast-paced, profane dialogue.
But Pacino looks unsure of himself, his eyes flickering about in a way that seems unconnected to Levene’s own distress. Uh-oh.
John C. McGinley steps on the gas pedal in the following scene, shifting the play into the necessary high gear. As the manipulative, intimidating salesman Dave Moss, McGinley spits out Mamet’s curses like angry red flares.
But this is a rare high point, even if Pacino eventually finds his mark in the last act, and seems to rumple inside his shabby, shiny suit.
Director Daniel Sullivan, who also helmed Pacino’s “The Merchant of Venice,” may be overly gentle for this misanthropic opera. The production is too flat and restrained for a play that feels more furious and nihilistic than ever.
Everybody here is a hopeless loser: Levene, his timid colleague George Aaronow (Richard Schiff, from “The West Wing”), and James Lingk (Jeremy Shamos, from “Clybourne Park”), a meek and mild mark in Roma’s crosshairs.
Roma may be the strongest salesman of the bunch, but he’s dimly aware that he’s just a small-time operator who has to eat to avoid being eaten. As the “Glengarry” guys pathetically yell “F – – k you!” to each other, you can just feel the bigger predators hover right outside of the frame, ready to unleash their subprime mortgages.