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| Movie Review: Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps Alternate Title: Buy Low, Sell High
Story: Buy low, sell high
is pretty much all I know about finance but I do know a good movie when
I see one and this latest by director Oliver Stone
is first rate. It is 23 years since Mr Stone brought us Wall
Street and Michael Douglas received his
Oscar as the now iconic Gordon Gekko whose statement
greed is good had become the bumper sticker behavior of recent
pre-bubble times. This sequel finds Gordon Gekko coming out of
an eight year prison sentence for insider trading and other white collar
misdeeds. He is older and yet the wiser part of that phrase
is replaced by still pissed. Revenge is on his mind and how
he goes about getting retribution is at the heart of the film. That said, while I enjoy a revenge film as much
as anyone else, I liked the manner in which Oliver Stone presents his
view of how this latest economic tsunami happened, who to blame and
how to proceed forward. In easy to understand language, graphics and
terrific camera angles, we learn simply, who did what to whom and how
we all got screwed. The size of the egos and personal grudges makes
for a riveting movie goers experience. The acting is terrific, the pace, fast moving
(except for the storyline about Gekko and his estranged daughter) and
I highly recommend this film to all. The film was written by Allan Loeb
and Stephen Schiff and was based on characters created
by Stanley Weiser and Mr. Stone. Watch the trailer here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RJ7bkoMYD80 Acting: Michael Douglas as Gordon Gekko was terrific.Shia
LaBeouf as Jake Moore was fine although I am not sure what
the fuss is about him. Josh Brolin as the evil Bretton
James was great. Carey Mulligan as daughter Winnie
Gekko, has had better roles. The entire supporting cast was great including:
Eli Wallach (Julie Steinhardt), Susan Sarandon
(Sylvia Moore), Frank Langella (Louis Zabel) and Vanessa
Ferlito (Audrey). Trivia: After dropping out of Yale University, Oliver
Stone became a soldier in the Vietnam War. His films have mostly centered
on a male protagonist (the biggest exceptions are "Heaven &
Earth" and "Natural Born Killers"). The issue of family
and fatherhood are frequently involved in his films. In JFK (1991),
Garrison must juggle fatherhood with his job. In Alexander (2004), Alexander
is torn between his parents. In Natural Born Killers (1994), both the
main characters were abused by their fathers. In Platoon (1986) and
Born on the Fourth of July (1989), the two main characters cite that
they went to Vietnam to live up to their fathers fighting in the Second
World War.
Predilection: I am partial to films that were set
in NYC and totally biased towards films that had scenes shot at the
Central Park Zoo (where I have had a association since 1990).
Critters: A scene between Gordon Gekko and Jake Moore
takes place in the Central Garden at the Central Park Zoo. In the background
we see the beautiful sea lions, April and Scooter and we can also see
zoo keepers Rob and Celia on sea lion island working with the animals.
Blatant Product Placement: Heineken, Apple, Shun Lee
restaurant, Ducati and many more.
Soundtrack: I am a sucker for any film that uses
music by David Bryne.
Opening Titles: After a sequence about Gekko leaving
prison and terrific visual of NYC and financial charts with credits.
Visual Art: Director of photography, Rodrigo
Prieto does a sensational job in making NYC a major player
in this high stakes drama.
Theater Audience: Empty on a Wednesday morning.
Weather: NYC looks sensational in this film with perfect
weather.
Sappy Factor: 0
Quirky Meter: 0
Squirm Scale: 0
Drift Factor: 0
Predictability Level: Moderate to high.
Tissue Usage: 0
Oscar Worthy: Perhaps
Big Screen or Rental: Go for the big screen.
Length: A bit long at two hours and 10 minutes.
LOBO HOWLS: 8.5 |