Photo by: Money Never Sleeps, a fictional tale about the unsavory practices of Wall Streetb
Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps has its ups and downs, unfortunately. There was real potential in this movie that it only partly achieved.
Directed by Oliver Stone, Wall Street’s plot is lost in annoying percentages and too many statistics explaining the financial woes of the 2008 economic meltdown. Great performances from the lead actors are what save this movie.
Shia LaBeouf plays Wall Street trader Jacob Moore. His mentor (Frank Langella) commits suicide after the company’s stocks go sour during the economic crisis.
Jacob suspects the plummet resulted from foul rumors. Looking for vengeance, Jacob turns to his girlfriend’s father, Gordon Gekko (Michael Douglas), who was recently released from prison, for professional help.
Gordon helps Jacob plot revenge as long as Jacob re-establishes a stable father-daughter relationship between Gordon and Jacob’s girlfriend Winnie (Carey Mulligan). Wall Street’s best acting comes from Josh Brolin, who plays antagonist Bretton James, the perfect billionaire villain. Brolin is menacing, and his character holds an aura of power that never falters.
Douglas brings his character back from the original Wall Street film and succeeds. LaBeouf, who normally stars in fast-paced, high action films does a surprisingly good job in this film of slowing scenes down. At times the plot moves too quickly making it difficult to follow. In these moments, LaBeouf gets so serious and emotional that the actor nearly steals the movie.
However, the acting does not save Stone’s financial message to the audience, if there even is one. Viewers will understand that there are corrupt men in the business of Wall Street but unless viewers know economic technical terms, some of the story gets lost in irritating and confusing vocabulary.
The relations between the characters, however, are dramatic as lies and betrayal occur continuously. The movie is visually appealing. Sleek and flashy apartments for rich New Yorkers (along with cool shots above the city) provide good eye candy.
Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps is worth seeing for the acting, not the story.
