Film Reviews

Wall Street 2: Money Never Sleeps

• Rating:
• Director: Oliver Stone
• Starring: Michael Douglas, Shia LeBeouf, Josh Brolin, Carey Mulligan, Susan Sarandon
• Details: US/132mins 12A

Following up a smash hit, Oscar winning film a couple of decades after it hit was always going to be difficult. But Oliver Stone had the perfect opportunity to do just that when America's volatile financial sector collapsed a couple of years ago, essentially writing off billions and billions of dollars, and forcing a government intervention. Whilst not directly following the collapse of the likes of Lehman Brothers, Stone's film offers all-too-obvious comparisons to the real financial apocalypse that will have fiscal reverberation for years to come. We open on Michael Douglas' Gordon Gekko getting out of prison after serving, an apparently harsh, eight years for some of the dodgy dealings that took place during the first film. No one is there to meet him on his release, and the film then moves forward seven years where we meet his daughter, Winnie, played by Carey Mulligan, and her fiancé, hungry up-and-comer Jake (an impressive LeBeouf). She still holds a grudge against her father for her brother's suicide, but he hungers for a reconciliation, and urges Jake to help him do just that. Meanwhile Gordon takes Jake under his wing, offering advice on how to deal with the collapse of his firm, and Josh Brolin's egotistical rival banker. Using flashcuts predominately for the first time since Any Given Sunday, Stone is obviously enjoying himself here and has a lot to say - maybe too much. Like the original, there are a lot of threads here to keep track of, while the core story of the financial collapse alone takes some serious paying attention. Stone has to utilise splitscreen more than once to find time for heavy hitter, Douglas, and the typically commanding Josh Brolin. It isn't always cohesive, and despite lacking narrative clarity, it also feels about fifteen minutes too long - two qualms that can be laid firmly at the door of its director. When it works, it does so extremely well, ticking over like an antique Rolex watch, oozing with class. Douglas is in his absolute element as Gekko, and always feels one step ahead of everyone else on screen. His "greed is legal" speech is cracking stuff, and genuinely resonates in the current climate. LaBeouf has a quiet intensity about him here, and is a more amiable foil that Charlie Sheen's Bud Fox; he also has indisputable chemistry with Mulligan. The ending is predictable and overwrought, and Stone could've worked a lot more ironing out creases. That said, it's release could not have been more timely, and the cast are always watchable.

Review by Mike Sheridan