Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps (2010)

Oliver Stone has made the words of his own Gordon Gekko come to fruition with the release of his follow up to the 1987 hit Wall Street. In 2010's Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps, Stone takes the audience to the elite world of Wall Street again.

Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps is a continuation of Gekko's sordid tale of ambition and money; however, this time a new generation becomes involved in Gekko's world of lies and deceit. After spending eight years in jail for a slew of charges including insider trading, Gekko is released to find himself broke and alone, and turns his efforts to reuniting with his estranged daughter. Gekko is aided by Jake Moore, a Wall Street trader engaged to Gekko's daughter, Winnie. Reconciliation proves to be no small feat for Gekko as Winnie has become bitter and angry, blaming her father for the death of her brother, Rudy. The seemingly reformed Gekko offers advice to Jake about the truth of Wall Street and the hidden agendas of his fellow traders. Aside from Gekko's tale, Money Never Sleeps focuses on relationships: Jake and his mentors, his mother, his fiancée and his idolatry towards Gekko himself.

More than just a fictitious melodrama, Money Never Sleeps chronicles the financial crisis of 2008. Scenes of pure chaos on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange give insight into the scale of panic felt by traders during the recordbreaking days of financial loss on the markets. Compounding this effect on the viewer is the sub-plot of Louis Zabel, a big time player in the markets, whose story is the epitome of the chilling consequences of the cutthroat world of Wall Street.

Much of Money Never Sleeps' strength comes from the cast. Michael Douglas reprises his role as Gordon Gekko and plays him in such a way that no one can ever truly be sure of what his intentions are. It is this moral ambiguity that makes Gekko a character that is enjoyable to watch repeatedly. Shia LaBeouf joins Douglas as Jake Moore. LaBeouf creates within Jake an evolution of character from bright-eyed, bushy-tailed trader with integrity, to a deceitful man whose bottom line is money. LaBeouf's counterpart is Carey Mulligan as the liberal, down-toearth Winnie Gekko, the polar opposite from her father. Frank Langella plays the tragic Louis Zabel, and his adversary Bretton James is played villainously by the versatile Josh Brolin. The cast is rounded out by Susan Saradon as Jake's mother, and an unsurprising but thoroughly entertaining appearance by Charlie Sheen as Bud Fox.

By all accounts, Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps is a successful successor to the 1987 original, and while it has some strong romantic melodrama overtones, and a few awkwardly placed sight gags, it is both entertaining and enlightening from beginning to end.

Rating: 4 1/2 out of 5 stars