'Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps'

'Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps' (PG-13) (rental)

Writers: Allan Loeb and Stephen Schiff
Director: Oliver Stone
Starring: Michael Douglas, Shia LaBeouf, Carey Mulligan, Josh Brolin, Susan Sarandon, Frank Langella, Eli Wallach, Vanessa Ferlito, Austin Pendleton

"Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps" is the sequel to the very popular "Wall Street" from 1987 also directed by Oliver Stone. Micheal Douglas won an Oscar for Best Actor playing Gordon Gekko, a ruthless, arrogant and powerful stock kingpin. Douglas gave an amazing performance and I think Douglas has gotten better since. I love watching him in everything he has been in lately. He keeps getting better with age and he is becoming as iconic as Jack Nicholson or even his father. I felt the original "Wall Street" was a powerful performance in search of a great movie. I am not a big fan of "Wall Street" for I find it a weak and mawkish movie that is too much soap opera. The movie lives and breathes with Douglas's performance and I feel if people look back at it they will find it doesn't hold up. I feel that the sequel has the same problem for I find it weakly written but kind of worth seeing only for Douglas's second bravura performance of Gekko. When he is not on screen, which is surprisingly a lot, the movie is lifeless. When he is on screen the movie becomes totally different and full of more energy. The story that surrounds Douglas is again mawkish and weak.

The movie takes place 23 years after Gordon Gekko was put away in prison for insider trading. As he gets out he finds out no one is there to welcome him back. He writes a best selling book and travels around the country giving speeches. The movie starts out strongly with this and also with the only character I cared about. He is Louis Zabel and he is played by the great Frank Langella. Zabel is the mentor of Jake Moore who is the Charlie Sheen type character and hero of our story. Jake is played by Shia LaBeouf who I like a lot but who is miscast in this movie. Zabel is involved in a very shady stock deal and he commits suicide over it. He was muscled out by a young Gekko type character played by Josh Brolin. Jake is dating Gordon Gekko's daughter who is played by Carey Mulligan hot off her amazing performance in "An Education". Gekko then makes a comeback, gets involved with Jake who wants to get Gordon and his estranged daughter back together. The opening scenes with Langella are great and made me think this would be better than the over rated original. The middle of this movie where Douglas is gone a lot is dull and sappy. The only reason to see this movie is for Michael Douglas who is getting better with age. I love watching Douglas act more than anyone lately and I love him here. The problem is I didn't care about anyone else. I can't root for LaBeouf's character because I find him boring and smug. LaBeouf is okay but a little miscast and his character is shallowly written. Carey Mulligan is again amazing but the role she is given is whiny and I was tired of seeing her cry constantly. The role is beneath her talents. Josh Brolin should have been more vicious but he seems to be smirking a lot and he comes off as a male model posing as a Wall Street bigwig.

The movie never got me involved and like the original it comes off as a weak and shallow soap opera. I do think this movie is worth renting for Michael Douglas's performance and if you liked the original you can watch them on DVD back to back. I don't know why I don't like these movies. Maybe it is because I think the stock market is a boring subject and I couldn't care less about it. I did like the movie "Boiler Room" so I don't know if that is it. I do love watching Michael Douglas's performance so much I give this more of a pass like I did the original. Douglas is awesome but if you want to see a better performance by him rent the outstanding "Solitary Man". This movie came out earlier and it is much better and is the movie that will really get Douglas an Oscar nomination this year. So wait a few months and rent "Wall Street", it's sequel and "Solitary Man".

P.S. Oliver Stone rebounds a little with this movie thanks to Douglas. I am still waiting for the button pushing, controversial and powerful Stone to come back.