Film Review: WALL STREET: MONEY NEVER SLEEPS

Cast: Michael Douglas, Shia LaBeouf, Carey Mulligan, Susan Sarandon, Frank Langella, Josh Brolin
Director: Oliver Stone

The Story: Gordon Gekko (Michael Douglas) has been in prison for eight years – a very long term – for committing fraud on Wall Street. It is obvious that he is hurt when no one meets him outside the prison. But his daughter Winnie (Carey Mulligan), his only living relative, does not want to see her father, ever again. Seven years later, Gekko has authored a book and is trying to get rich, selling it. He finds that he is not accepted in the Wall Street circles and is quite bitter about it.

Jacob aka Jake (Shia LaBeouf) is in a live-in relationship with Winnie. He works for Louis Zabel (Frank Langella), an investment banker on Wall Street. The extremely successful Lou goes broke suddenly due to a turn in the stock market. He commits suicide and Jake is heartbroken that his mentor is no more.

Jake goes to meet Gordon for two reasons. He wants to know about the man’s relationship with Winnie and also about who had brought down Lou’s business. Fascinated by the man, Jake continues to be in touch with him despite Winnie not liking it.

Gordon never helps anyone without getting something in return. He makes use of Jake to get back at Bretton James (Josh Brolin) who was responsible for getting Gordon behind bars and also for breaking Louis Zabel. Gordon also wants to get his hands on the one million dollars held in trust in Winnie’s name at a bank in Zurich. Jake becomes a scapegoat in Gordon’s master plan.

Watch the film to see how the father-daughter relationship goes for a toss while dragging Jake’s and Winnie’s feelings through mud. Will things work out for the lot of them or no?

My perception: The film moved fast and ran for about 2 hours. It keeps the viewer interested in the plot. The bylines were a Godsend as I not always understand all the dialogues. And the dialogues were very good.

Michael Douglas gave a terrific performance as Gordon. His expressions spoke volumes. It is obvious that Gordon is torn between becoming big on Wall Street again and maintaining good relations with his daughter.

Shia LaBeouf was excellent in his role as Jake and was as good as the veteran. Carey Mulligan has very few dialogues but was extremely expressive. The father-daughter relationship was portrayed in a very touching fashion.

Frank Langella and Josh Brolin had also done well in their roles.

Verdict: The film is definitely worth a see!

Rating: ***

* Silly
** Shaky
*** Smart
**** Snazzy
***** Super