Greed is good, redemption is better.
“What actually happened to Gordon and Bud?” That was the question I asked myself after seeing “Wall Street” for the first time. The film, set in 1985, had an amazing loose end outside of a courthouse that lasted 23 years.
“Wall Street” and its “Greed is Good” mantra set a standard for the future stockbrokers of America. It was the epitome of dog-eat-dog. Speaking of dogs, one of the best lines from the film was, “If you need a friend, get a dog.” It set the tone for the era; love will betray you and money will always be loyal.
“Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps” is set in 2008, right before the financial bubble burst, is Oliver Stone’s sequel to his original. The title of the sequel takes its name from a line uttered by the legendary corporate raider Gordon Gekko (played by Michael Douglas, who also won an Academy Award for Best Actor in the first film).
The story begins with Gekko being released from prison into a world that has forgotten about him in 2001. Fast forward to 2008, we are introduced to a young couple Jake Moore (played by Shia LaBeouf) and Winnie Gekko (played by Carey Mulligan). Jake is an ambitious Wall Street investment banker. Winnie is an online activist and also Gekko’s estranged daughter. The investment firm Jake works for is about to go under and his mentor, Louis Zabel (played by Frank Langella), is making some bad decisions for their firm.
Gekko doesn’t reappear for another 30 minutes when he gives a grand opening speech at his alma mater to promote his new book. Greed is legal and everyone is doing it, that’s Gekko’s message. He lets us know it’s not solely the banks’ fault, nor is it entirely the government’s fault. It is the consumer who helped put us into this dismal recession. Wait, so is greed bad? It’s starting to sound that way.
The story turns back to Jake. After Louis passes on, Jake is distraught and wants vengeance. He blames Bretton James (played by Josh Brolin) for pushing his mentor out of business. He also wants to bring Gordon and Winnie closer together. He devises a plan to take a good chunk of money from Bretton while simultaneously trading information with Gekko about both Bretton and Winnie. The plot does mirror Bud Fox’s (played by Charlie Sheen) ambition in the first film. Both characters have the willingness to deceive those around them in order to succeed and also to gain Gekko’s respect.
Stone has changed the pace of the film from the original. In “Wall Street,” the scenes of trading and the under-handed behaviors were intense and fast. There was the moment of Fox and Gekko bartering over stock on the phone that just jumped off the screen with tension and energy. It had the same feel and excitement of action shots from an “Indiana Jones” film.
In “Money Never Sleeps,” Stone takes his time and uses long brush strokes to paint his modern pictures of high society. We are no longer wearing power ties and eating steak tartar for lunch (by the way lunch is for wimps). We are going green and eating less red meat. Stone understood the dynamic shift in the culture on Wall Street and captured that change on film.
I am not a financial guy; I know very little about Bulls and Bears. The great thing about Stone and the reliable cast is that they model for the audience the changes in the market. If you are still lost after the visual aids, you can follow the actors’ reactions to the events. We comprehend the tension in the room in a scene where the leaders of the top investment firms are sitting around an enormous oak table inside a boardroom arguing about selling off a company. The ardent back and forth at the table set the mood that things were not going improve for the economy.
The story continues with several double cross events and even some heartfelt moments that we didn’t see much of in the first film. The film does its job of being a sequel. It tells us what happens to the main characters (including a fun cameo by Charlie Sheen) and shows us more than one dimension of Gekko’s “Winner Takes All” attitude.
Should you see this movie? If you need closure on Gekko’s corporate odyssey, then yes, go see it. If you want a snapshot of how we got into this economic mess two years ago, then go ahead and see it.
However, I am disappointed in the title of the film. It’s a powerful, attractive title. I went in thinking it was going to be a film about money, power and greed, but it is a film about human relationships and redemption.
Beware of the ending; it’s un-Gekko-like and even un-Stone-like. The message was that love is more powerful than money. Maybe the hippies were right. Maybe all we need is love.
