It's Good, For the Lack of a Better Word

Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps

**1/2 out of ****

Directed by: Oliver Stone

Starring: Michael Douglas, Shia LaBeouf, Carey Mulligan, Josh Brolin and Frank Langella

Running time: 133 minutes

Stock markets across the globe had just been dealt a crippling blow when Wall Street hit movie houses in the December of 1987. Its follow-up, subtitled Money Never Sleeps, opens with a similar sense of gloom permeating through the global economy. But while the original film’s aura of excess and bravado has remained relevant, Money Never Sleeps is unlikely to follow in its daddy’s footsteps. It’s a timely financial thriller, but not a timeless one.

In 2001, Gordon Gekko (Michael Douglas) is released from prison. No one is there for him when he leaves. His son has committed suicide, and his daughter, Winnie (Carey Mulligan), has abandoned him. Living off a limited supply of cash, the man who once proclaimed that “Greed is good” has other matters on his mind. He wants to reconnect with Winnie and get revenge on Bretton James (Josh Brolin), a CEO whose testimony kept him in prison for longer than his sentence stipulated.

Gekko’s reconciliation alongside a new economic climate would have made for a fascinating character study, and having one of Hollywood’s most culturally symbolic villains get a second stab at financial glory certainly warrants a sequel.

Unfortunately, Gekko’s travails are a mere subplot in Money Never Sleeps. The film primarily focuses on Jacob Moore (Shia LaBeouf), a young proprietary trader. He is engaged to Winnie, and upon meeting Gordon, asks him to help bring down James, whom he suspects is responsible for the death of his mentor (Frank Langella).

Gekko’s and Moore’s overlapping storylines compete for the spotlight, but the latter (and less interesting) one wins out, absorbing a greater chunk of the film’s bloated running time. LaBeouf is great, though, as the brash, whipsmart trader who doesn’t feel the need to be anyone’s protégé.

There’s a lot of smart, sophisticated entertainment in Money Never Sleeps. The storylines move at a steady clip, and much of the financial jargon is spouted out at a similar rate – director Oliver Stone expects us to know these terms and doesn’t spoon-feed his audience.

The films looks rich and glossy, but Stone drapes the high-octane business world with a set of varied colours by exposing the darker machinations on Wall Street. To the surprise of nobody, the controversial director uses moments within the film to state his own views on the economic downturn.

There is a healthy market of strong performances here, but their high buying price is marred by questionable storytelling choices. Audiences want to get underneath Gekko's slimy skin one more time, but Stone retreats from this request by upstaging that character with another. Isn't that just greedy?