Summary (from the studio): Following a lengthy prison term, Gordon Gekko (Michael Douglas) finds himself on the outside looking in at a world he once commanded. Hoping to repair his relationship with his daughter, Winnie (Carey Mulligan), Gekko forges an alliance with her fiancé, Jake (Shia LaBeouf). But Winnie and Jake learn the hard way that Gekko is still a master manipulator who will stop at nothing to reclaim his rightful place at the top of Wall Street.
Warning: Spoilers below!
Liked:
- Call me easy, but I loved the Charlie Sheen/Bud Fox cameo. I honestly didn’t know it was coming and was pleasantly surprised that they were able to work that in.
- I was cheering when it was revealed that Gordon stole the money from Winnie’s trust — mostly because something FINALLY happened in the film! Up to that point it was all just talking about takeovers, trades, strategies on finding the highest annuity rates, and Mulligan acting put out about everything.
Disliked:
- I thought it was a bit of a stretch that some rumors from a nobody like Jacob could send Churchill Schwartz stock plunging 20% and cause a $120 million loss. Yeah, if the rumors came from a big player, I’d buy it. But from Jacob? No way!
- I didn’t like Michael Douglas’ acting in this one. Obviously he HAD to be in it, but he looked and sounded terrible. Was it just age or does he have Parkinson’s like Michael J. Fox? It seemed that he was trembling and shaking quite a bit — especially during the first lecture that Jacob attended.
- Shia LaBeouf was just all kinds of wrong as a Wall Street guy. He doesn’t have the look (screen presence, whatever you want to call it) and it doesn’t seem like he has the brains to be taken seriously in this kind of role. Hated him!
- Speaking of Shia’s character, what a boring douche he was. He didn’t have any moral conflicts in this one (unlike Bud Fox in the original). He ALWAYS took the high road when it came to the financial dealings, and that made him milquetoast in my eyes.
- What was up with all of Carey Mulligan’s crying???? I usually like this actress, but man was she annoying in this one! Every time her eyes filled with tears, my husband and I would look at each other and say, “Here we go again!” Way, WAY overdone.
- I didn’t like the ending. Nothing in this film made me believe that a happy ending was possible for these people — or even deserved. At least one of them should have had to suffer some bad consequences.
Rating:
I was hoping Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps would defy the bad reviews and at least provide a couple hours worth of entertainment. Unfortunately that didn’t happen, as this film had too many problems that I just couldn’t get past. As a result, I give this one 2 stars out of 5.