Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps

"Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps"
Starring: Michael Douglas, Shia LaBeouf, Josh Brolin, Carey Mulligan, Frank Langella, Susan Sarando
Directed by: Oliver Stone
133 minutes

As Oliver Stone revisits his 1987 film "Wall Street," he encompasses in this sequel the same primal urgency and dog eat dog regard with this updated, more stylish version. For my money, Money Never Sleeps is tad better than its predecessor, but that isn't to say it doesn't have its fair share of flaws and shortcomings. The original "Wall Street," was a film that spoke to a time and generation, this sequel is more about the generation gap living through the same business as in the first film, as well as a reminder of what has already come before us.

With the return of Michael Douglas' Oscar winning character Gordon Gekko in this installment, much attention is paid to the upcoming generation of stock broker. This time, it's in the younger mold of Jake Moore, who is played by Shia LaBeouf in probably his most adult role to date. Moore is an upcoming broker, similar to Charlie Sheen's Bud Foxx from the 1987 version. Moore is seeing Gekko's daughter Winnie, played by Mulligan, who has kept all the bitter memories of her father intact to still hold a grudge. One of the subplots of the film is the dynamic between Moore, Winnie, and Gordon, as Moore juggles relationships with both characters.

The narrative is troubling as Stone fills this puppy to the brim with excess plot. The ramifications of the screenplay written by Allan Loeb and Stephen Schiff is one of the things that hinders the film. As it opens, Douglas' Gekko is let out of prison a month after 9/11. We flash-forward to 2008 where the global economy is on the eve of destruction. It's here where Stone wants to make his commentaries and analysis known. He teams the old corporate raider of Gekko with the ambitious Jake Moore, and pits them against successful billionaire Bretton James, played by Josh Brolin. We learn in this installment that Bretton was the main reason Gekko was put behind bars. Brolin is the villain of the film, though lacking the devilish charm of the old Gekko, he is pretty good here.  Another subplot emerges involving the death of Jake's longtime mentor and friend Louis Zabel, played by Frank Langella, who was no stranger to Bretton's wrecking ball of ambition and greed.

I particularly enjoyed the first 45 minutes of this film, it was fresh, stylish and interesting to share the company of what seemed to be a reformed Gekko seeking solace and redemption with his daughter. Their dynamic is a little soft, but Douglas and Mulligan share a key scene that probably hit close to home with Douglas and his own personal life. Most of the time we're watching Gordon adapt to his new surroundings, he's got a rented apartment, no friends, but his own buried motive that doesn't thrust the film into new territory. It arrives late and plunges us further into an already long runtime and yet another subplot.

New York is glamorized with multiple montages and establishing shots, a mood that is much different from the one that's present in the realm of the characters. Stone's editing style here is much different from what we're usually privy to from him. He uses a lot of split screens, graphics, and quick techniques showing the new age of the market and those involved. Jake Moore is at the center of this universe, and Stone tries to convey the changing times through his generation. Bretton's generation is those who sit in dark rooms discussing change and how to strong arm other companies. The dynamic between Bretton and Jake isn't as played out as Douglas' and Sheen's in the first installment, but it mirrors the rival between old and young, new school versus old school.

The muddled scope and Stone's lack of resolution also downgrades the picture. Stone is trying to say something, but all of his sub plots and partial unfulfilled character arcs block the main narrative from reaching its destination. As the film nears its end, Gekko's persona remains intact, except he's given birth to the hint of a remorseful quality, other than that, we haven't learned much else.

Grade: 3/5