Cape Fear

Round 7: "Glengarry Glen Ross" (1992) vs. "Cape Fear" (1991)

Welcome to masculinity run amok. David Mamet's story about the cutthroat world of real-estate sharks may be chock full of characters jockeying for pack position, but Pacino's Ricky Roma clearly rules the roost; this ... moresmooth operator is an alpha male among alpha males. Like Roma, De Niro's Max Cady is a guy who knows how to use words to get what he wants, but what this brutish ex-con wants isn't to bilk suckers. Cady wants revenge, specifically against Nick Nolte's soft (by comparison) lawyer who put him in the slammer. De Niro's extraordinary performance turns one long psychic rape into an aria of Y-chromosome anger, yet when it comes down to brass tacks, Pacino has the edge here. It isn't just that the character is better written than Cady, so much as the way Pacino takes Mamet's agro-slick rants and runs with them. Cady can throw a harder punch, but Roma has a sturdier patter.

Winner: Pacino closes. And therefore gets coffee.

(Everett Collection)