Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps

Oliver Stone’s “Wall Street” was a wake-up call about the financial crisis the place was headed for. If only we listened. Or maybe we listened too well, and Gordon Gekko became the role model for a generation of dishonorable financial people who put hundreds of millions in their wallets while bankrupting their firms and brining the economy down. As “Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps,” released in 2010, starts, Gekko has been able, as Roger Ebert put it, “cool his heels for many of the intervening years in a federal prison, which is the film’s biggest fantasy; the thieves who plundered the financial system are still mostly in power, and congressional zealots resist efforts to regulate the system.”

Ebert continued, “That’s my point, however, and not Oliver Stone’s. At a time when we’ve seen several lacerating documentaries about the economic meltdown, and Michael Lewis’ The Big Short is on the best-seller lists, “Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps” isn’t nearly as merciless as I expected.” This is an entertaining story about ambition, romance, and greedy trading practices, but it looks more fascinated than angry. Is Stone suggesting this new reality has become surrounded, and we’re stuck with it?

Ebert noted, “In some ways, Gordon Gekko himself (Michael Douglas) serves as a moral center for the film. Out from behind bars, author of Is Greed Good? and lecturer to business students, he at first seems to be a standard repentant sinner.” Then he meets a young trader named Jake Moore, played by Shia LaBeouf, and finds himself reverting back to his old self. Jake wants to marry Gekko’s daughter, Winnie, played by Carey Mulligan, who hasn’t spoken to her father for years. Maybe Jacke can be the agent for their resolution. He sincerely loves Winnie, who is a liberal blogger. Jake himself is ambitious, already has his first million, wants more, but we see he has a good heart because he wants his firm to help alternative energy. Is this because he is environmentally friendly, or only likes it? Maybe a little of both.

Jake works for an old-line Wall Street house named Keller Zabel, led by his mentor and father figure Louis Zabel, played by Frank Langella. This firm is taken down by a crook named Bretton James, played by Josh Brolin, who is good at spreading rumors about its instability. Stone does not underline the irony that James’ firm, and every Wall Street firm, is equally standing on so much worthless debt. Ebert said, “In a tense boardroom confrontation, Zabel is forced to sell out for a pittance. The next morning, he rises, has his soft-boiled egg, and throws himself under a subway train. It is instructive that although tycoons hurled themselves from windows during the Crash of 1929, the new generation simply continued to collect their paychecks, and Gekko expresses a certain respect for Zabel.”

The death of his beloved mentor gives Jake a motive: He wants revenge on Bretton James, and suddenly everything starts to come together: How he can hurt James, enlist Gekko, look good to Winnie, gain self-respect, and maybe even make so much money along the way? It takes an hour to get everything together, but Stone does it confidently, and his casting choices are good. Then the story goes along as more melodrama than display.

Of course, Michael Douglas is reprising an iconic role, and it’s interesting to observe how Gordon Gekko has changed: just as smart, sly, still with tricks up his sleeve, older, a little wiser, strongly feeling his separation from his daughter. Shia LaBeouf, having previously been in Indiana Jones and, at the beginning of this film, with Louis Zabel, falls in place eagerly next to Gordon Gekko, but may find out not everyone in his path wants to be his helper.

Langella has little screen time as Zabel, but the character is important, and he is flawless in it. Ebert said, “To the degree you can say this about any big player on Wall Street, Zabel is more sinned against than sinning.” Finally, there’s Carey Mulligan as Gekko’s daughter, still blaming him for the death of her brother, still suspicious of the industry that made her father and now looks to be making Jake.

Ebert said, ““Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps” is six minutes shorter than it was when I saw it at Cannes and has a smoother conclusion. It is still, we might say, certainly long enough. But it’s a smart, glossy, beautifully photographed film that knows its way around the Street (Stone’s father was a stockbroker). I wish it had been angrier. I wish it had been outraged.” Maybe Stone’s feelings are correct, and American audiences aren’t ready for that. They haven’t had enough of Greed.

Charlie Sheen makes a brief cameo in this sequel. As a surprise sequel, I think this was good. Obviously, it may not be as good as the first, but it is still a good sequel that shows what Wall Street has become. If you liked the first one, then you can see the sequel on Hulu right now. Check it out and see for yourself.

Alright, we have come to the conclusion of “Michael Douglas Month.” I hope everyone enjoyed it and hopefully people have seen all of his movies. Stay tuned next month to see what I have in store for everyone.