Al Pacino, Jack Lemmon, Ed Harris, Alan Arkin, Kevin Spacey and Alec Baldwin head up this adaptation of an award-studded stage production. Naturally, given a cast so drenched with talent, the audience is going to want to see them flaunt their acting chops, and thankfully, that's the key to this entire production. Without a tight band of intense, versatile, believable characters at its core there's no chance a plot that revolves around sales calls and a bland office robbery would be anything more than a snoozer. But in this cast's hands, with this combination of sharp, passionate dialog and sleazy, self-serving lack of morality, it's totally entrancing.

Like many play-to-film interpretations, there is a certain amount of stagnation in terms of the film's scenery. The vast majority of the action takes place in a sales office, with phone calls, police interviews and (de)motivational speakers providing the flavor. Those tame surroundings work in a variety of unusual ways, though: as a means to ground the story in reality, an exercise in diverting our attention solely to the acting, and a device to give the rare peeks outside the office's not-so-friendly confines an added dash of color. A master class in cadence and characterization, it's a deep, emphatic and intoxicating look at the gamut of techniques a desperate salesman can (and will) employ.