This Incredible 90s Capitalism Thriller Now Streaming On Peacock
Before The Wolf of Wall Street, before HBO’s Industry, there was Glengarry Glen Ross.
Possibly the best film about capitalism ever made, Glengarry Glen Ross hauntingly recreates its seismic forces in the interpersonal relationships between lowly salesmen in a dingy real estate office. Each interaction between these sharply drawn characters is a collision of constantly shifting power dynamics as their values rise and fall like so many stocks.
Small in scale, the film’s ideas are impressively far-reaching: it captures the desperation that fuels the capitalist spirit, as well as the absurd macho rhetoric. It understands that success is ultimately dependent on someone else’s failure and that the limp-wristed regulation of the law pales in comparison to landing on the wrong side of a deal.
Oh, and did I mention it’s an ensemble piece starring Al Pacino, Ed Harris, Jack Lemmon, Alan Arkin, Alec Baldwin, and Kevin Spacey? Superbly written (adapted by David Mamet from his own play) and about as well acted as any movie ever made (if I had to rank the performances, I’d go Lemmon, Pacino, Harris, Baldwin, Spacey, Arkin).