Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps takes place 13 years after our first introduction to Gordon Gekko. Although Michael Douglas does a great job playing a total ass-hole, there was really no need for this follow up story. I was frustrated going in knowing that he suddenly had a daughter when the only child we knew of from the first film was a son. Granted the son was most likely only included in the original film because it was writer and director Oliver Stone's own kid, however was it really needed to get rid of the poor kid just to have a sudden addition to the family? Not that it couldn't have happened, but I just want to know why the story couldn't have involved a Gekko son. Only excuse I can think of is that Stone and the studio most likely didn't feel that the story would have worked for some reason or other if it had been a female approaching Gekko or maybe even his own son being a ruthless broker. I understand that, but I would have loved to have seen what they could have done with a gender reversal.
I feel that Money Never Sleeps is one of those hit or miss films. If you loved the first one, you will most likely enjoy this film. I chose to sit through the 2 hour running time of Wall Street, hoping that it would benefit me in the long run, but as I sat there I only wished I had not made that decision. Then to sit through another 2 hours and 13 minutes of the same thing was one of the most painful things I have done in quite some time. I contemplated walking out, but thought that if I did I might just miss the one good thing in the film. So I continued to sit there, hoping for something to happen. There is no special effects to help pass the time. There is no real suspense that keeps you on the edge of your seat. The only thing the film had going for itself was the few cameo appearances of two actors from the original film. With a quick one-two between Gekko and Bud Fox (Charlie Sheen), and a quick hello from Sylvia Miles as the realitor, all that was left was the heavy hitters that carried the film.
Josh Brolin (Goonies and Jonah Hex) did a decent job portraying the "almost believable" villian that everyone was out to get. Shia LaBeouf (Transformers) was surprisingly believable in his portrayal of Jake Moore. There was a little of his past characters that almost carried over from time to time, but I was delightfully surprised by his acting. It definitely made up for his mistake in Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (sorry Spielburg, but that was a huge fail on everyone's part). Carrey Mulligan (An Education) was fine as Winnie Gekko (no matter how mysterious her entry into the story is). Even the brief appearances of Susan Sarandon (who plays Jake's mom), Frank Langella (who plays Jake's mentor Louis Zebal), and even Eli Wallach ( who plays Jules Steinhardt) gave it a little push to keep me in my seat, but even with such great talents in the film I still thought the story lacked in a lot of areas. Maybe if Darly Hannah had a cameo in the film I would feel otherwise as that just might have been enough to void out how painful the rest of the film had been.
Unfortunately Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps is a film I wish I had passed on. The original was more than enough for me. I wish I had gotten more out of the film, but I can only say that the film is a 2.5 out of 5. I wish you best if you take on this challenge. Just don't shoot the messenger if you lose it all by taking the gamble in this market.
Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps trailer
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