Rest assured, WALL STREET fans have nothing to fear, this film does not taint the original. Oliver Stone does what successful sequels all do — build on the chapters that came before. While this critique of Wall Street is not as cutting as the 1987 film, it does have something to say about the current U.S. financial environment.
Gordon Gekko (Michael Douglas, ROMANCING THE STONE), the ruthless trader from the original, has been released from jail after serving eight years for insider trading. It's 2008 and he has written a book that reveals the precarious footing the financial system is on. Wall Street big wigs just ignore him. But he does draw the attention of young hotshot broker Jake Moore (Shia LaBeouf, TRANSFORMERS), who just happens to be engaged to Gekko's estranged daughter Winnie (Carey Mulligan, AN EDUCATION). Jake wants Gekko's help digging up info on billionaire broker Bretton James (Josh Brolin, NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN), who both have an ax to grind with.
James purposely fed rumors around about the sub-prime loans of Moore's firm, which led to its closure. James then snatched up its assets for pennies on the dollar, leading Moore's mentor Louis Zabel (Frank Langella, FROST/NIXON) to commit suicide. Gekko believes James had more to do with why he was given such a harsh sentence than anything his former protégé Bud Fox (Charlie Sheen, TV's TWO AND A HALF MEN) ever did.
While I think overall Stone's W. was a more successful film, some of the same issues I had with that film carry over to this one. Stone knows the real life material that the film is based on very well. But at times this film gets bogged down in financial details. Even the most astute viewer may get lost in the shoptalk about security swaps and derivatives. At some point all you really know for sure is that this guy cheated that guy so this guy wants to get back by uncovering the shady deals the first guy is making. In many ways, Stone's film lets Wall Street tycoons off the hook by not finding more emotional ways to show exactly what they are doing. That said the film does make great points on what a scam our financial system has become, but the more someone knows going in the more they will take out.
Moore's story is the film's central purpose. He is the idealistic go-getter. Stone makes the right choice to not make him anti-Wall Street, but a skilled business man who sees how the current ways of doing this might not be the best thing for both business and the country. He's trying to get funding for a new fusion project that could completely change the energy industry and make him a lot of money. But for better or for worse, business is based on whom you know. His campaign against James could have been a powerful force in the film, but the connect between Moore and Zabel is dampened with Gekko in the picture as the new mentor. And when Stone thinks we've forgotten that Zabel's death is motivating Moore, he superimposes the old man in the background.
Moore's story drives the film, but really at its core the film is about Gekko trying to redeem himself. He makes trades with Moore to get closer to Winnie, but she isn't ready to forgive, blaming her father for her brother's drug problem. The best scene in the film comes between Gekko and Winnie on the steps of an art gallery where they have both shown up for the same benefit. It's emotional and precise in its writing about the regrets of an absent father. Gekko is allowed to reveal that he has a soul hidden in there somewhere. He takes it out for special occasions I guess.
While Stone tries to have the best of both worlds in the end, making the film close on a hopeful note instead of a harsh one, the film does touch on the psychology of a man like Gordon Gekko. While the subtitle is awkward, it does define Gekko's mind frame. Money is never far from his thoughts. The lack of it made him think one way and the pursuit for more made him think another. But for him the money is only a scorecard in the financial game he plays. And with a player like him it's not only good enough to win, you have to humiliate the opponent in the process.
Rick DeMott
Animation World Network
Creator of Rick's Flicks Picks
