Oliver Stone’s sequel to his memorable 1987 dissection of 1980s corporate greed is a far more flashy and free-wheelin’ affair. Stylistically it fits with his later work with the use of rapid-fire montage and graphics to convey mood, ideas and information.
In a funny opening prologue we see Gordon Gekko (Michael Douglas) released from prison just after 9/11. He’s a dinosaur from the Planet ’80s. It’s such a shame then that for large parts of Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps Gekko is absent.
Douglas slips back into his most famous role like a glove and his performance drips with confidence and barely concealed glee. But is Mr. Greed Is Good a reformed character? Has he seen the errors of his era? Well, that would be telling.
Shia Lebeouf plays the Charlie Sheen role and it makes for a potentially riveting story when he teams up with Gekko to take down Josh Brolin’s corporate baddie, Bretton James. But something happens in between that, and like Enron’s accounting, doesn’t quite add up. It’s the focus on a flimsy family drama alongside several other sub-plots that feels like overload.
The global recession is more of a backdrop than used as an exploration of corporate greed. Perhaps Stone felt he would be repeating himself too much and simply wants to tell a Machievellian tale and entertain us. The old firebrand moralist of Salvador, JFK and Natural Born Killers is nowhere to be seen.
The dialogue suffers from ‘banking-for-dummies’ explanations, too. And although Stone has never really grasped the art of being subtle, the exchanges really do hammer the message home. “Are you saying we’re going under?” Shia Lebeouf asks his Wall Street boss Lou (Frank Langella). “You’re asking the wrong question. Who isn’t?”
So where’s Gekko in all of this? He’s busy making his daily bread as a writer, analyst and financial sage. He can see the woods for the trees and predicted the economic meltdown all along – almost with smug satisfaction. But he’s been left out in the cold by his family and especially his daughter Winnie (Carey Mulligan).
All he wants is a family reunion and for his daughter to love him, or at the very least, understand him. Mulligan’s character is something of a champagne socialist and acts as a counter-point to Gekko-père’s avarice and political outlook. He constantly refers to her as a ‘leftie’ even when he’s trying to make amends. But in the end, Winnie is little more than a convenient plot twist, and admittedly it’s a very entertaining one. And that’s what you’ll mostly get out of Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps: entertainment. It’s as if nobody ever saw a sequel as feasible or on the cards and therefore since it does exist, just enjoy it.
Along the way we’re also treated to a brilliant Charlie Sheen cameo returning as Bud Fox in a scene loaded with barely constrained ‘fuck you’ angst and taunts. Michael Douglas delivers his best role in years and maybe Oscar will come calling again in February, at least in the Supporting Actor category, if the Academy is in a sentimental mood.
Every scene he is in he completely and utterly owns. Like a vortex everything turns towards him and becomes sucked in, most of all Jake, an ambitious man who wants revenge against those who wronged his dead boss. To see Gekko smirking, hair slicked back and telling us with mock sincerity that “human beings are a mixed bag”, you can’t help but grin along with him.
The hiring of Rodrigo Prieto to photograph the film lends it some great visuals. Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps will not disappoint. Although not the sum of its parts, just enjoy the return of one of cinema’s greatest villains.
Rating: ★★★☆☆
US Release: 24th September
UK Release: 6th October
Australia Release: 23rd September