Review of Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps (2010) by Joel M — 18 Mar 2011

The Greed God himself Gordon Gekko is back! And no, he is not related to that talking lizard in those commercials of that insurance company that sounds like Gekko. However, both of them do have big tongues that are used to suck up your money. "Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps" is the sequel to the 80's predecessor hit film which featured W.S. tycoon Gekko going head to head with that guy with the Adonis DNA. At the end of the 80's "Wall Street" movie, that guy's Adonis DNA was FBI wiretapped in a confrontation with Gekko which caused Gordon to spill all the beans on his corrupted money laundering schemes; which led to an eventual trip to the big house. By the way, just in case you are not in the loop with this one, it was the character of Bud Fox portrayed by the wirehead Adonis DNA king Charlie Sheen that caused Gordon's "go to jail" trip due to Gekko's attempted monopoly on Wall Street. I am punning, duh! The "Two and a Half Men" star even makes a two and a half minute cameo in the sequel. "Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps" starts with Gekko in 2001 upon his prison release of his 8-year jail term. However, there is no one there to pick him up once he is freed. Then the movie quickly zips ahead to 7 years later in 2008. Gekko is not the leading character in this sequel. It is the character of Jake Moore, a young savvy stockbroker who seeks revenge on a merciless financial executive who Moore thinks caused the suicide of his stockbroker mentor Louis Zabel. But that's not all, here is more on Moore; he happens to be engaged to Gekko's estranged daughter Winnie. Jake does end up having an association with Gordon Gekko and they even start trading. Gordon provides Jake inside information on his former nemesis Bretton James who happens to be the executive that Jake wants to crash I mean crush. In return, Jake has to find a way for Winnie to reconcile with her daddy G.G. With the economic crisis of 2008 in the background, "Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps" encompasses many financial debacles and shady deals within the the narrative. If you are not into financial verbiage (as yours truly), you have to be paying close attention and never sleep to this one or else you will be lost as a puppy. So call me financial-verbose challenged, but Screenwriters Allan Loeb and Stephen Schiff's complex "write me the money" screenplay will leave many moviegoers puzzled and confused. Personally, the first "Wall Street" was easier to understand and I saw it when I was 19; or maybe this means that my money market intellect is crashing as I am getting older. Director Oliver Stone returns to helm the sequel with the same finesse as he did in the first one. Shia LaBeouf's rapidly rising acting stock came to a halt with his overacted performance as Jake Moore. Josh Brolin played just another one of those what has become his stereotypical villain roles with his formulaic performance as Bretton James. Carey Mulligan's work as Winnie was a bit too bratty-like for my taste, and did not cause me to root for a win-win situation for the whining Winnie. However, the acting of "Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps" was bailed out by the legendary Michael Douglas with his charismatic performance as Gekko. Douglas won the Best Actor Oscar back in the late 80's for his star turn as Gekko in the first "Wall Street". And though his work in the sequel borders between a supporting and lead performance, it still shows that Douglas, for lack of a better word, is good; very good! I think you should invest some time in "Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps" but the dealio is that dow will probably not love it.

*** Average.