Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps

In 2001, Gordon Gekko (Michael Douglas) is released from prison. Gekko served eight years for insider trading, and when he walks through the gates of the prison, he is alone. Seven years later, as the global economy takes a nosedive, young Wall Street trader Jake Moore (Shia LaBeouf), learns first hand the devastating effect a drop in share price can have on those invested in a company. Moore teams up with his fiancée’s estranged father, Gekko, to not only take revenge on the company that destroyed his mentor, but to also warn the world of the upcoming financial crisis.

It seems that releasing a sequel to films years after the first one is something that Hollywood is banking on for success… If you’ll pardon the pun. Toy Story 3 was released 11 years after it’s predecessor, Tron: Legacy is on the way, 28 years after Jeff Bridges first ventured into the virtual world and Gordon Gekko has returned to remind us that money never sleeps.

Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps is nothing if not topical. The film focuses on the banking crisis that started in 2008 and the repercussions of bad investments, bad loans and crashing share prices. There are several scenes in the film that could have been scripted by Sean FitzPatrick based on his own experiences at Anglo Irish Bank, and there are echoes of decisions made by bakers without government knowledge throughout the film.

At the centre of the film there is a triangle: the relationship between Jake, his fiancée Winnie (Carey Mulligan) and her father, Gordon Gekko. Winnie blames her father for destroying her family but Jake admires him for his knowledge of the Wall Street game. Between them, and without Winnie’s knowledge, Gekko and Jake plan to bring down the trader that destroyed Jake’s mentor. But of course, Gekko has another plan…

It is obvious that Oliver Stone, along with screenwriting team Allan Loeb and Stephen Schiff, have tried to simplify Wall Street proceedings for those of us who have no idea of the intricacies of banking. While it may not seem this way at times, the way to keep up with proceedings is to focus on the characters. Gordon Gekko, although he is not the character that the film focuses on, is definitely the one it relies on. It is Gekko that evolves the most, and it is he that influences most of the characters actions through the film.

The running time, at 133 minutes is over long, leading to some overly complex twists and meandering subplots. It is almost 2 hours in that the film finally reveals itself and thunders towards its resolution. Although every effort was made to help the audience understand the action, literal imagery such as bubbles bursting and dominoes falling jar against the action on screen, and serve to alienate viewers rather than draw them in.

Douglas reprises his most famous role, and the one that won him an Academy Award, with ease. Although he is, once again, cool and confident, this time Gekko seems to have more depth and emotion than in his previous outing. Although most of his actions are a play for him to get what he wants, Gekko eventually gets in touch with his human side and begins to make up for the mistakes of his past.

LaBoeuf gives what could be seen as the best performance of his career so far. Although he is the romantic lead in the film, he no longer preens and poses for the camera, as has been his wont in the past. He carries off scenes with Frank Langhella and Susan Sarandon with ease and provides an able foil for Douglas’s Gekko. Carey Mulligan turns in a solid performance in a somewhat limited role. The same goes for Langhella and Sarandon.

The film could have reached its resolution much more neatly and a lot faster without the confusing subplots that appear and disappear throughout, and as such, Wall Street: Money never Sleeps does not reach the same level as its predecessor. Perhaps the central idea of the film – that greed has been legalised – has already been beaten into audiences through events that are still fresh in the collective memory. Although we are now becoming aware of the seriousness of the banking crashes across the world, perhaps it is too soon for Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps to have the impact that Oliver Stone was hoping for.

Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps is in cinemas nationwide from October 6th.