'WALL STREET: MONEY NEVER SLEEPS': Three Stars (Out of Five)
Michael Douglas reprises one of his most famous roles, Gordon Gekko, in this sequel to the 1987 hit co-written and directed by Oliver Stone. Stone once again directs and casts Shia LaBeouf (one of my favorite young actors) in the lead (taking over for Charlie Sheen, *spoiler* who makes a small appearance in the film *end spoiler*). The film also stars Carey Mulligan, Josh Brolin, Eli Wallach, Frank Langella and Susan Sarandon. With such an impressive ensemble of talent both in front of and behind the camera you'd think they could have came up with a better movie than this. I wasn't a huge fan of the first film; I'm not interested in Wall Street in any way and characters (and people) fascinated only by self preservation and financial gain are boring and disgusting to me. With that said the original film was still somewhat interesting and well made and Douglas was great in it. Here his on screen time is kept to a minimum and although he was a supporting player in the first film he was still the most fascinating thing about it and they should have capitalized on that with the sequel. LeBeouf is good but he's been better, he's much more of a gifted quirky comedic actor than a serious dramatic one.
In the film LaBeouf plays Jake Moore; a young trader in love with Winnie Gekko (Mulligan) daughter of Gordon. Winnie despises her father and wants nothing to do with him. Moore is fascinated by the man though and introduces himself to Gordon at a conference. Gordon is intrigued by Moore as well and sees a way back in to a relationship with his daughter, as well as possibly a puppet to use. The two meet secretly as Gordon councils Moore on his Wall Street plans of revenge for the death of his mentor Louis Zabel (Langella) against the man they believe is responsible Bretton James (Brolin). In exchange Jake tries to reconcile Winnie with her father.
The film begins in 2008, right before economic disaster as Gordon Gekko predicts. A film dealing more with this subject would have been much more interesting. The character study, love story and family relationship are all adequate but they could have been much better. The revenge tale is a good plot devise but not effectively played out. There's a lot of different stories going on here that aren't balanced out very well and kind of take away from one another. Stone's directing is interesting at times but he's gotten soft and a little unfocused in his old age. The film should be much darker and compelling; there's no real danger or despair in this movie. The film is surprisingly family friendly as a result (the original was anything but). The movie has a lot of potential but it just doesn't deliver.
Watch our movie review show 'MOVIE TALK' at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B8w-4xZ94ZU
Michael Douglas reprises one of his most famous roles, Gordon Gekko, in this sequel to the 1987 hit co-written and directed by Oliver Stone. Stone once again directs and casts Shia LaBeouf (one of my favorite young actors) in the lead (taking over for Charlie Sheen, *spoiler* who makes a small appearance in the film *end spoiler*). The film also stars Carey Mulligan, Josh Brolin, Eli Wallach, Frank Langella and Susan Sarandon. With such an impressive ensemble of talent both in front of and behind the camera you'd think they could have came up with a better movie than this. I wasn't a huge fan of the first film; I'm not interested in Wall Street in any way and characters (and people) fascinated only by self preservation and financial gain are boring and disgusting to me. With that said the original film was still somewhat interesting and well made and Douglas was great in it. Here his on screen time is kept to a minimum and although he was a supporting player in the first film he was still the most fascinating thing about it and they should have capitalized on that with the sequel. LeBeouf is good but he's been better, he's much more of a gifted quirky comedic actor than a serious dramatic one.
In the film LaBeouf plays Jake Moore; a young trader in love with Winnie Gekko (Mulligan) daughter of Gordon. Winnie despises her father and wants nothing to do with him. Moore is fascinated by the man though and introduces himself to Gordon at a conference. Gordon is intrigued by Moore as well and sees a way back in to a relationship with his daughter, as well as possibly a puppet to use. The two meet secretly as Gordon councils Moore on his Wall Street plans of revenge for the death of his mentor Louis Zabel (Langella) against the man they believe is responsible Bretton James (Brolin). In exchange Jake tries to reconcile Winnie with her father.
The film begins in 2008, right before economic disaster as Gordon Gekko predicts. A film dealing more with this subject would have been much more interesting. The character study, love story and family relationship are all adequate but they could have been much better. The revenge tale is a good plot devise but not effectively played out. There's a lot of different stories going on here that aren't balanced out very well and kind of take away from one another. Stone's directing is interesting at times but he's gotten soft and a little unfocused in his old age. The film should be much darker and compelling; there's no real danger or despair in this movie. The film is surprisingly family friendly as a result (the original was anything but). The movie has a lot of potential but it just doesn't deliver.
Watch our movie review show 'MOVIE TALK' at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B8w-4xZ94ZU