First published at www.goodlifemoviereviews.com
Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps PG-13
Website – http://www.wallstreetmoneyneversleeps.com
“Michael Douglas does a great job revisiting Gordon Gekko as we see Gordon leave prison and make his way through the recent economic crisis that has impacted all of us”. Steven Shomler, Good Life Movie Reviews www.goodlifemoviereviews.com
Summary – In the enjoyable opening scene, Gordon Gekko (Michael Douglas) gets out of prison and begins to rebuild his life. We see Gordon navigate his way through the recent global economic meltdown. The film also follows the journey of Gordon’s daughter, Winnie Gekko ( Carey Mulligan) and Gordon’s future son-in-law Jake Moore (Shia LaBeouf) as they navigate through Gordon’s wake.
Rating – I give Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps 2 out of 5 Gas Cans. Mediocre. See it at the theater only if you are already at the theater and there is nothing else worth seeing. Better to wait until this movie comes out on DVD.
My Favorite Quote – “More” – The answer to the question how much (meaning how much money) would it take for you to simply walk away?
Runner up quotes – “The mother of all evil is speculation”
Money is not the prime asset in life, time is.”
“Does blue horseshoe still love Anacott steel?”
” I cannot make it right again, I can make it better”
“You had the hunger, I could smell it.”
My Favorite Sequence – Gordon Gekko lecturing at the university.
Who you should see the movie with – Someone who saw and liked Wall Street I, Someone who would enjoy seeing Gordon Gekko attempt to rise from the ashes, A Shia LaBeouf fan – go to this link to see a USA Today article by Claudia Puig, about Shia’s role in Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps www.usatoday.com/life/movies/laboeuf
Other reviews you might find helpful – by Scott Bowles USA Today – www.usatoday.com/movies/reviews/-wallstreet-2 By Lisa Schwarzbaum Entertainment Weekly – www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,20428073,00.html
What I liked about this movie and my thoughts-
Overall this movie did not really come together for me. I saw the movie with a friend and they said that “it sounded preachy” and I agree it did come across as preachy.
Some critics have said that this movie had “twists ands surprises” etc. I saw all of the plot twists coming and the plot twists the movie did have, did not really seem that interesting to me.
That being said, having worked 8 years in the mortgage business, 4 years in the 90’s and since 2007 forward, I really enjoyed the lecture that Gordon gave in the university. You want a thumbnail sketch of why we are in our current economic situation – check out that speech.
Being a fan of the first Wall Street, I really enjoyed the cameo by a much older Bud Fox (Charlie Sheen).
I also enjoyed seeing Gordon strive to return to glory without feeling the burden to also strive for redemption. The Gordon Gekko I knew in the 80’s would not care about redemption, but revenge and victory. This movie got that part right.
I found Carey Mulligan’s character (Gordon’s daughter, Winnie Gekko) to be very whining and I never connected with her struggle. Her struggle being a surprise plot point I will not reveal here… however it was a plot point I saw coming a long way off.
I also did not enjoy Carey in this movie. I would not have cast this actor to play the daughter of the great Gordon Gekko, For me, Carey just did not work in this role.
I did enjoy Shia in this movie and his character is one sharp dresser. The men in this movie wear fantastic suits.
The Soundtrack is a nice back drop to the movie, The song Home by David Byrne and Brian Eno gets heavy play in the film.
That’s it.
Steven Shomler Good Life Movie Reviews
