Review of Wall Street (1987) by Mereie D — 18 Sep 2010

Relevant as this movie might be today, I found it slightly disappointing. Perhaps we have become too well aware of all the sordid practices in the financial world to be (dis)agreeably surprised by it. Perhaps Gordon Gekko and the like have managed to knock us senseless with their â??greed is goodâ?? bromides.

In 2010, a movie like â??Wall Streetâ?? leaves us with an unmistakable aftertaste of â??been there, done that, bought the T-shirtâ??, at least in my case. I wonder what the sequel (â??Wall Street: Money Never Sleepsâ??) will be like.

On the whole, this film paints an accurate picture of the creepy sort of financial world we all know so well by now, but it does so in a fairly predictable and above all unengaging way. Oliver Stone usually gives one the feeling one is watching something really important and impressive, but in this case, I just couldnâ??t persuade myself to get sucked in by this production.

The red thread in the movie is the business concerning the â??rescueâ?? of Blue Star, Carl Foxâ??s (Martin Sheen) destitute airline company (which we already know not to be a rescue: how can it be when everything Gekko touches changes into misery for others), but a considerable amount of time is NOT paid to this crucial matter.

Instead, we get the usual hectic buying and selling activities we have seen before so very often, but whose details we never managed to fathom. Personally, I prefer a film like â??Rogue Traderâ?? (1999) about the Nick Leeson affair, which is directed in a more engaging, entertaining way, and has a more captivating, amusing story to tell (which is usually not the case when the film is based on a true story).

â??Wall Streetâ?? is an adequate movie with some very good actors which has regained its relevance in recent times (hence the 2010 sequel), but it failed to mesmerize me in the way I think it should have done.

Rating: 3 stars (6/10).