How to Read a Book like a Film

I have read David Marnet's screenplay Glengarry Glen Ross. Some thoughts:

My ideal cast:

Shelly Levene is the most normal character in the book. He is a bit older and is sort of forced to steal in order to help his once mentioned sick daughter. Seeing as how this is a common use of the Heinz dilemma, Shelly should no less be played by the fictitious Heinz himself. It would be perfect. Or if you need somebody real, why not the psychologist Lawrence Kohlberg, famous for creating the scenario?

Ricky Roma, the dirty, sneaky, ambitious (and often victorious) salesman of the lot. He'll do anything to win, and he knows just how to hook an unsuspecting fish, so to speak. Because of his obvious talent in con-artistry, he should be played by George W. Bush pretty much any president Ronald A. Katz, inventor of automated call centers and those stupid automatic messages you're no doubt used to hearing. Hello, your call is important to us. Now, if you could please listen to this irritating music for 20 to 30 minutes, that'd be juuust super.

Dave Moss, the conspirator who plans to steal the client list that will get him and Levene rich. Loud-mouthed and obnoxious, selfish and cunning, he should be played by Canadian actor Robb Wells, who plays Ricky in the show Trailer Park Boys (a fantastic show about the moronic and violent life on a trailer park). The titular character is more or less the same person.

John Williamson, the manager of this agency, is a cruel and petty sort of tyrant. Playing the role of the greedy doctor in the Heinz dilemma, he should probably be played by Sam Walton, president and CEO of Wal-mart Stores, Inc. For those of you who haven't heard, he's kind of a despicable human being, and I use the latter term very generously. Much like Williamson, the characters of the screenplay would like nothing more than to see writhe in torment and agony for all eternity pass away peacefully in his sleep sooner rather than later.

George Aaronaw is passive, petty, aging, and filled with complaints in his life. He tries not to get caught up in any risky business, but despite his effortless attitude and fear that have him stuck as an incompetent salesman in the first place, he just might get caught up anyway. I can only see myself playing this character in the 40 years down the road. Maybe it would be a role suited for Stephanie Meyer or her diluted mirror image Bella Swan, if George were a girl.

Enough of them, I'm also going to suggest, in order to enrich the plot of this piece, that the plot be more... cruel than it already is. While it's magnificently written, I think that the biggest idea with this play is that cheaters always win, and winners always cheat better than losers. So, let's switch up the characters some.

I want Levene to be lying about his sick daughter. And I want him to ham up the lie as much as possible (dead wife, unsupportive parents, behind on mortgage too, etc). I think that the company should be larger in scale. Much larger. Have it be a chain or realtors, and have Williamson at the top. Dissociate his character some more from the employees, make him really hungry for money, and make him have it. Ricky Roma could be next in line for the top spot at this branch, and that would make the plot even more competitive and dirty. By the end of this all, have the guys who attempted to steal the leads get arrested (as they have) and have them be replaced by a few up-and-comers shortly thereafter. Roma could be expanded upon if he were already the boss of his sect, and could be gunning for Williamson's job, but this is probably pretty needless. I want to get the sense in there that this business is like the womb of a tiger shark. That's sort of how it is in real life!