Coffee's for closers
 | It has been suggested that this article be merged into Glengarry Glen Ross (film). (Discuss) Proposed since June 2012. |
Coffee is for closers is a well-known and frequently performed monologue seen in both screen acting and theatre acting auditions and competitions. It was written by David Mamet specifically for Alec Baldwin for inclusion in the film Glengarry Glen Ross -- the scene is not part of Mamet's original play version.
In the scene Alec Baldwin plays the character Blake, who is sent by the owners of a Chicago real-estate sales office to improve the flagging efforts of the employees through threats, intimidation, and the gimmick of a sales contest, in which first prize is a Cadillac Eldorado, second prize, "a set of steak knives," and third prize "you're fired." Baldwin's character tells Jack Lemmon's character, who has gotten up to refill his coffee mug, "Coffee's for closers", implying Lemmon's character cannot get coffee, since he is not a "closer".
Blake is an arrogant, narcissistic, yet highly successful salesman ("I made $970,000 last year. How much did you make?"). He was sent by Mitch and Murray (the NY bosses) to motivate the staff through intimidation and scare tactics. To animate his message, he takes out a pair of brass balls and tells the men that they must have "brass balls" to be successful in sales.
John Williamson, played by Kevin Spacey, is the unsympathetic supervisor who introduces Blake before observing his speech to employees Shelley Levene (Jack Lemmon), Ed Moss (Ed Harris) and George Aaronow (Alan Arkin).