Monday, 3 January 2011

Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps (2010)

Back in 1987 when I was a little “wet behind the ears” I wanted to be Bud Fox, he was the hero of Wall Street, a few years later and of course I realised that the real money laid at the door of Wall Street’s villain Gordon Gekko, for over 20 years Wall Street has held a unique place in the movie industry, but late in 2009 came the news we all either wanted or dreaded, Wall Street was getting a sequel.


Image via Wikipedia

Jake Moore (Shia LaBeouf) is a young upcoming Wall Street trader, a loyal and conscientious worker who dreams of bigger and better things. The protégé of bank founder Louis Zaber (Frank Langella) Moore has a very bright future. From nowhere the shares of Zaber & Zaber fall through the flew, and Louis struggles to save the bank from the clutches of Bretton James (Josh Brolin), when a last ditch attempt fails Louis commits suicide, leaving the future of thousands of staff in jeopardy, and his protégé scarred from the events that ran up to his death. Moore realises where the fault lies, and desperately wants revenge, the only way he can think of achieving the task is under the mentorship of one time king of Wall Street Gordon Gekko (Michael Douglas), this relationship must however remain secret, for Moore and Gordon are connected in more than one way, Moore is dating Gekko’s daughter Winnie (Carey Mulligan), and she wants nothing to do with her estranged father.

Before I begin I need to point out that despite some reviews Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps is not a bad film, as a sequel to what in my opinion is one of the best movies of the 80’s however this is cut from a much different cloth. It’s a confusing affair watching Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps, because despite the return of its star Douglas, cameo performances from Charlie Sheen reprising his role of Bud Fox, and a demented estate agent played by Sylvia Miles; and of course its director Oliver Stone, this movie feels like an imitator and a poor one at that. As the story begins to slowly unravel you cannot help but ask if this is a parody of a great classic, and this is a problem that haunts the entire movie. To engage in this movie you really need to almost erase all memories of 1987’s Wall Street, if you can manage that your fighting a battle you can win, and then, and only then will you be able to embrace the story for what it is.

I’d find it difficult to believe that anyone without prior experience of the stock exchange or high intelligence, would honestly be able to say they got all the aspects of the original Wall Street, no such chance here however the story level and the detail has been dumbed down to a level that anyone can take onboard. Sadly this also takes away some of the charm, it was god to revisit Wall Street and discover that you had figured out new aspects of the story, herein lies a problem, this is a one off movie, not something that will serve you well by repeat viewings, this is a one outing adventure.

For those that have found director Oliver Stone a little hard to tolerate over recent years, you really will find it difficult to feel his trademark on the movie. The grittiness is gone, as is the bitter agenda he seems to have been carrying out over his work, this is a much more clean and polished piece.

Douglas does feel a little out of place in the movie, he should be feeling at home, but this is a much different Gordon Gekko to the one we left behind 23 years ago; he bumbles about unrecognisable as Gekko, weaker less concerned for his image. But this is more than just character change, this feels an awful lot like either Douglas never wanted to return to the role, or budget demanded his return. One time Hollywood heavyweight, in recent years Douglas has been on a sliding slope, and you do tend to feel his performance here (up until the final quarter) is nothing more than an overblown cameo role.

Good screenwriting keeps the story compelling, as does the links with the past (I appreciate a slight contradiction from earlier comments), you wait patiently for the curve-balls to come, you also enjoy the slow unfolding storyline, the character development, the small victories, and the major defeats.

LeBeouf of course shines, he is proving to be a consistently like-able actor , and is joined by Doctor Who actress Carey Mulligan as the female lead, Mulligan is becoming a favourite in the key Hollywood players especially in light of her performance in the acclaimed “An Education”. While Brolin delivers a very capable performance as the arch villain of the piece, almost stealing the role that Douglas played in the original. The reuniting of Charlie Sheen and Michael Douglas is an unpleasant addition to the movie, lots of nauseous “Blue Horseshoe loves Annacott Steel” and “Blue Star” references that come out of the actor’s mouth like a thick tarry vomit.

Music wise Stone obviously figured that the Talking Heads tracks worked well in the original movie, and leans heavily on the bands lead singer to deliver the vocal feel to the movie, 23 years on however and it does not work so well, despite the inclusion of the legendary return track from the original.

It’s a sad fact of life that you’ll find it impossible to erase the past, and if you loved the original, you’re not going to be happy here. This is something far different to the original, and you cannot shake that off no matter how hard you try.

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