Stars: Michael Douglas, Shia Labeouf, Josh Brolin Charlie Sheen
Directed by: Oliver Stone
Reviewer: Adam Mast, Zboneman.com
As Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps opens, Michael Douglas’ Gordon Gekko is getting out of prison. This classic introduction smacks of the opening of John Landis’ hilarious Blues Brothers, and it put a great big smile on my face. As Gekko exits the massive gate at the front of the prison, a limo pulls up. As the door to the luxuriant vehicle opens, the base thumping hip hop tune blaring from the interior suggests almost immediately that the limo isn’t there to pick up Gekko. Its there to pick up the gangsta standing right next to him. Thus the stage is set. The climate is now much different than it was when Gekko was thrown into the slammer.
How will Gekko ever make it on the outside? By writing a book about his exploits of course. As the film opens, there is a bit of a cheat. Seven years pass between the moment Gekko gets out of jail and goes on tour with his book, and we don’t really see the life he lives during those seven years. As Gekko embarks on his new life, we’re introduced to Shia LaBeouf’s Jake Moore, a well intentioned, straight shooter with aspirations of making it big in the trade market. As fate would have it, Jake just so happens to be involved with Gekko’s estranged daughter Winnie (played by An Education’s Carey Mulligan), and when the ambitious Moore eventually meets his potential father-in-law, a certain relationship is put in jeopardy. The first act of Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps is quite strong. The relationship between Jake and his mentor Louis Zabel (wonderfully played by Frank Langella) is moving and when a unforeseen incident inspires Jake to exact revenge, the stage is set for what should have been a much better film. Instead, Money Never Sleeps just sort of lumbers along at a leisurely pace pitting our fearless protagonist against the conniving Bretton James (played by a magnetic Josh Brolin).
There’s some really great acting here. Douglas is solid (watch for an emotionally powerful exchange between he and Mulligan early on in the picture) , but his Gekko is a changed man. We only see a bit of the cut throat Gekko we’ve come to know and love on display towards the end of the picture. LaBeouf is outstanding in what really feels like his first truly adult role, and rather than doing a carbon copy of Charlie Sheen’s Bud Fox, director Oliver Stone and his screenwriters Allan Loeb and Stephen Schiff opt to go a different route with this character. While self assured, LaBeouf brings empathy to the role. Furthermore, he and Mulligan have great chemistry despite their on screen relationship being so half baked. In fact, Mulligan really is saddled with a thankless role here.
Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps was sort of a frustrating experience, because it does have hints of brilliance, but those hints are undercut by out of character moments, a silly motorcycle chase that belongs in a Jerry Bruckheimer movie, a less than satisfactory bit of payback offered up to the primary antagonist, a cop out in the final act, a slightly forced cameo appearance, and a conveniently pat ending in which lose ends are tied together all too quickly. Having said that, the acting here is quite superb offering up wonderful supporting performances from Susan Sarandon, Eli Wallach, and a host of others. Money Never Sleeps is certainly more interested in character dynamics then the first film was.
Save for the relationship between Bud and his father, the first Wall Street was most interested in greed, ambition, and the nuts and bolts of the stock market. Money Never Sleeps trades in the cut throat nature of the original film for a more safe, sentimental route. This isn’t to say there aren’t surprises here, but this film is far less striking than the original and the way these surprises are revealed and explored, feel a little unfulfilling. As is the case with greed, Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps is good, but it should have been great.
Grade: B-
– Adam Mast, Zboneman.com
