{"id":9277,"date":"2010-10-02T22:36:01","date_gmt":"2010-10-02T21:36:01","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.filmdetail.com\/?p=9277"},"modified":"2010-10-02T22:40:17","modified_gmt":"2010-10-02T21:40:17","slug":"wall-street-money-never-sleeps-review","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.filmdetail.com\/2010\/10\/02\/wall-street-money-never-sleeps-review\/","title":{"rendered":"Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/a><\/p>\n Two decades since Oliver Stone<\/a> chronicled financial greed in Wall Street<\/a>, he returns with a sequel set\u00a0amidst the recent global economic meltdown<\/a>.<\/p>\n Opening with Gordon Gekko<\/a> (Michael Douglas<\/a>) getting out of jail in 2001, the story quickly moves forward to 2008 where a trader, Jake Moore (Shia LeBeouf<\/a>), is looking for revenge after his firm is taken over by a ruthless rival, Bretton James (Josh Brolin<\/a>).<\/p>\n Enter Gekko, the author of a new book warning of the market meltdown. Jake happens to be dating Gekko\u2019s estranged daughter Winnie (Carey Mulligan) and agrees to help him reconnect with her, in return for information about James\u2019 firm.<\/p>\n Given that 23 years have passed since the original film, it is remembering that its cultural status built over time. Although Douglas won an Oscar, it was not a huge critical or commercial hit and it took time for his phrase \u2018greed is good<\/a>\u2019 to enter the lexicon.<\/p>\n Gekko was loosely based on disgraced figures such Michael Miken<\/a> and Ivan Boesky<\/a>, but gradually became a hero over time to a generation of financial workers who helped stoke the boom years under Clinton and Bush Jnr.<\/p>\n LeBeouf noted that for this film, Stone and Douglas were treated like royalty whilst filming on Wall Street because of the impact of the 1987 film – a cautionary parable about greed that ironically inspired a generation keen to emulate the villain.<\/p>\n <\/a>The new film has a promising concept: what would Gekko himself make of the financial crises of 2008 and the bailout of Wall Street banks by the taxpayer?<\/p>\n Much of the plot involves a thinly veiled dramatisation of the collapse of Lehman Brothers<\/a>, although the names of the firms have been changed, and the efforts of the US government to stop the financial system collapsing<\/a>.<\/p>\n On the plus side, the return of Douglas as Gekko is actually the most enjoyable aspect of the film. Not only does he paint a convincing portrait of a disgraced titan looking to get back in the game, but he balances genuine emotion with sly humour.<\/p>\n Where the film is less successful is the way in which it crams in too much domestic drama alongside the Gekko narrative.<\/p>\n The screenplay by Allan Loeb and Stephen Schiff is weaker when it comes the emotional conflicts of Jake and Winnie, which feels stodgy and undercooked, and it never really nails the extraordinary events of the last 2 years.<\/p>\n Although Le Beouf is agreeable in the role, his character\u2019s passion for green technology seems forced and Mulligan is almost completely wasted in a one-dimensional role.<\/p>\n Brolin is suitably menacing as the natural successor and rival to Gekko, but there is a curious lack of drama to scenes involving his bank and a global financial apocalypse.<\/p>\n