(Long Island, N.Y.) The original Wall Street, released in 1987, is considered iconic by the general movie going public. Well, except me, since I’ve never seen it. Shocking, I know, but it’s true. Sure, I’m familiar with the premise of what some consider to be director Oliver Stone’s magnum opus, but I’ve only caught snippets of the film on TV over the years; for some odd reason, I’ve never had a great urge to rent it. But I know that Michael Douglas’ Gordon Gekko was a crooked Wall Street tycoon who uttered the infamous line that became a mantra for 1980’s: “Greed is good.” And I know that Mr. Gekko’s wrongdoings eventually caught up with him, landing him in jail. And to be able to follow Oliver Stone’s new sequel, Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps, that’s all you really need to know.
Ever the one to interject his own form of social commentary into his films, Oliver Stone set his sequel (the first he’s ever made) during the current national recession, with fictional financial firms based on the real ones that basically got us all into this mess to begin with. Gekko is finally released from the big house in 2002 after a lengthy prison sentence for securities fraud, but there’s no one to greet him at the gate when leaves. Fast-forward to 2008, and Gekko has reclaimed some of his former fame (if not wealth) as an author of a book called “Is Greed Good?”
Enter Jacob “Jake” Moore (Shia LeBoeuf), an investment broker and boyfriend of Gekko’s estranged and (frankly) rather fickle and unbalanced daughter, Winnie (Carey Mulligan). Winnie blames daddy for everything that went wrong with her life since he was shipped off to The Clink, like her brother overdosing on drugs, her parent’s divorce, world hunger, alien invasions, you name it. Talk about misdirection. But anyway, she despises her father and everything he stands for, so of course it makes perfect sense that she hops into bed with a guy who does the SAME EXACT THING FOR A LIVING, doesn’t it? Paging Dr. Freud, paging Dr. Freud, your patient is ready…
So, Jake wants to marry psycho-girl and decides that it would be best for everyone involved if he got her to reconcile with her dad. Of course, Gekko’s accomplishments on Wall Street prior to his stint in the Hoosegow have apparently given Jake a bit of a man-crush on him as well, so he attends a lecture held by Gekko and introduces himself. The duo talk and Gekko agrees to help Jake with his career (including his efforts to raise dough for a “green” fusion research project he wants to invest in) in exchange for help getting back into his daughter’s life.
Of course, while all this is going on, the financial cluster-muck that Gekko had been predicting all along is coming to bear; Keller-Zabel Investments, a banking institution that Jake works for, is going under, and Jake’s boss and mentor, Louis Zabel (Frank Langella) is none too happy about it. Attempts to secure a government bail-out for Keller-Zabel are being blocked by rival businessman Bretton James (Josh Brolin), which only makes things worse.
Meanwhile, Jake is working with Gekko behind Winnie’s back to re-unite the two, but is Gekko truly interested in establishing ties with his kin once again, or does he have more sinister plans? What is the eventual fate of Keller-Zabel, and what part does Bretton James play in Jake’s future? Does Jake’s fusion project find the funding it needs? Does someone have a secret $100 million trust fund? What is the importance of Winnie’s photograph? What happened to Jake’s huge account that was going under in the start of the movie, but is never mentioned again? Why does a 94 year-old Eli Wallach show up from time to time whistling like a friggin’ bird? Some of these questions might just be answered if you watch the film!
Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps was decent, but considering its pedigree – its director, its stars, and the classic status of the original – it should have been better. As it is, it started out somewhat engrossing, but eventually just became overlong, poorly edited, unnecessarily flashy, and lacking in any bite or edge whatsoever. It ended up a rather bland affair, and most of that can be blamed on three things: the slowly moving and developing plot, questions that are asked but never answered, and the character of Winnie. Now, Carey Mulligan is a solid actress, but her character’s motivations for…well, ANYTHING she does are all stupid and annoying, and most of the scenes with her present are among the weakest in the movie. Winnie is just a poorly, poorly written role.
The rest of the cast is solid, but apparently on auto-pilot. Douglas was entertaining but oddly subdued. As for LeBoeuf, he maintained the status quo as far as his acting quality goes; either you love him or hate him. Personally, I like the kid, and in the right movies (such as 2007’s Disturbia), he can really show his talents. I just think he needs a role that will really stretch his range a bit more than it has been thus far in his career. The only one in the cast that REALLY impressed me was Josh Brolin as the smarmy, sleazy Bret (ah-hum, excuse me…it’s “Bretton” now) James; the former Goonies star has certainly come a long way. Oh, and Frank Langella was pretty good too.
So, overall, Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps starts out are very intriguing, but quickly gets marred down in its own self-importance, becoming disjointed without really providing as much entertainment as it should. You get the feeling that the scenes that could tie everything together better and provide the plot more cohesion are lying on a cutting room floor somewhere, and maybe they’ll show up on DVD in a nice Director’s Cut or something. Until then, the new Wall Street sequel will remain a bit of a letdown.
