The highly anticipated sequel to Oliver Stone’s 1987 movie “Wall Street†hit theaters this past weekend. In the movie titled “Wall Street: Money Never Sleepsâ€, Gordon Gekko (Michael Douglas) is released from prison after serving 13 years for insider trading. He writes a book about greed in America and it gets the attention of his daughter’s boyfriend, Jacob Moore (Shia LeBeouf), who is a stock broker in Wall Street. Gordon’s daughter, Winnie (Carey Mulligan) tells her boyfriend not to get involved with her father, because she does not trust him and feels he will only bring harm to their happiness. Jacob feels that Winnie is holding on to old anger and he goes to meet Gordon to try and mend their relationship. Jacob confronts Gordon and tells him that he is engaged to his daughter and would like to get to know him. Gordon tells him that he misses his daughter and would very much like for Jacob to help him fix the strained relationship that he has with her.
Meanwhile the company that Jacob works for is going bankrupt because of a rival company owner named Bretton James (Josh Brolin) who has been sending out false rumors about the company. Jacob makes a deal with Gordon that if he helps him get revenge against Bretton, that he will help Gordon mend his relationship with Winnie. Jacob sees Gordon as a mentor and father figure, and he secretly meets with him behind Winnie’s back until he can convince her to give her father a chance to be back in her life. Gordon, being an expert at manipulation and still trying to regain the fortune he once had, may have other motives in wanting his daughter’s forgiveness, which Jacob is unaware of. Can Jacob trust Gordon or will the real Gordon Gekko that Winnie warned him about show his true colors?
Now back when the first “Wall Street†movie came out, I was in high school and that type of picture just didn’t interest me. If it didn’t have violence or sex involved in it, it didn’t cater to my juvenile needs of what I considered entertainment. Over the years I have tried to watch it, but just haven’t sat down to do so. So when I went to see this sequel, I knew nothing of the background of Gordon Gekko. What I did know was that Michael Douglas is a great actor and I knew that in that regard I would not be disappointed. After seeing this movie, I now must make it a priority to see the first one. I know that in the first movie Douglas played a very manipulative and unscrupulous individual and in this sequel he still has some of those same threats. But deep down you kind of feel sorry for the guy. I mean because of his greed for money, he lost everything that was dear in his life, and had to do a good amount of time in jail because of his actions. So at first you’re not quite sure if his intentions are genuine or if he’s just using Jacob for an alternate reason.
Jacob on the other hand wants solely to get revenge on the person responsible for his boss losing control of the firm he worked for, and thereby destroying his chances of getting investors in a stock that he felt strong about. So you watch this story and you wonder if Jacob is going to end up like Gekko, either by trusting Gekko to much, or by his own intentions of wanting revenge against Bretton. It’s a really good story, with some really great acting. Josh Brolin is superb as the maniacal stock firm owner, who can only be compared to that of Gekko in the first movie. The movie also stars some other established and renowned actors such as Frank Langella, Eli Wallach, Susan Sarandon, and even Oliver Stone reprising himself from his small part in the first movie. There was also a cameo from Charlie Sheen who played the young stockbroker “Bud Foxâ€, who Gekko took under his wing in the first movie. It’s a well written story of greed and revenge in the corporate world of the stock market game. Shia LeBeouf held his own opposite all of these great actors and is becoming quite the dramatic actor. I thoroughly enjoyed this movie and would definitely recommend it to those who have seen the first one. I could feel the level of nostalgia that ran throughout the theater from the audience members who were waiting 23 years for this sequel to be made. I gave the movie 3 stocks out of 4. It was a well written sequel to a movie that made Michael Douglas an Oscar winner for “Best Leading Actor†back in 1987. The movie runs 2 hours and 6 mins. It’s rated PG-13 for brief strong language and thematic elements. It was written by Allan Loeb & Stephen Schiff, based on Source Material (based on characters in film: “Wall street”) by Stanley Weiser & Oliver Stone. It was produced by Edward R. Pressman Film Corporation. The film was distributed 20th Century Fox.
Greed is good – Gordon Gekko
Next week’s review: The Social Network
