Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps

"Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps" (2010) is a great movie in surprising ways, not obvious, but worth thinking about!First, it's different than the excellent and deservedly praised and honored "Wall Street" (1987) movie starring Charlie Sheen and Michael Douglas."Wall Street II" is good for different reasons. Don't compare apples to oranges! Different, both good, but not for the same reasons."Wall Street II" is worth watching (again and again) for several reasons:1. Great acting by superstar actors like Michael Douglas and Charlie Sheen (not credited, but part of the movie for about 60 seconds....the best 60 seconds in the movie!).The "accidental meeting at a party" of 1987 "Wall Street" stars Michael Douglas and Charlie Sheen is electric. These two guys are dynamite, and when mixed, produce incredible dramatics not seen in the rest of the movie, or in most other movies, anywhere.Two superstars, no other way to describe them.The movie is worth watching just for the quick take sequence which includes the return of "Bud Fox" (Charlie Sheen) meeting up with "Gordon Gekko" (Michael Douglas), both recently out of prison for "insider information victimless crime" offenses, and both doing great!You'll go a long way to see better, more dynamic superstar actor work than these two guys provide in this movie.It's explosive, and it's precious. Anyone who cares for incredible acting MUST see the Gekko and Fox Meetup part of the "Wall Street II."2. Michael Douglas is an incredible actor of high gifts. He deserved his Best Actor Academy Award from "Wall Street I" (1987) and this movie ("Wall Street II") shows that with good writing and the right story, he can do the same good work, again and again and again.It is a pleasure and a privilege to see the great Michael Douglas act in "Wall Street II." His Dad, Kirk Douglas (aka "Isadore Dempsky") would be proud of son Mike.His weight in the movie is bad, and director Oliver Stone wisely shoots around the newly enlarged (too big) waistline Mike has in "Wall Street II."But...what the hell? Nobody's perfect.Other "nobody's perfect" fat movie stars in the movie include Sylvia Miles (see her before she gained weight in "Midnight Cowboy" [1969], and Susan Sarandon, who plays the mother of the young man star of the movie with a the strange name "Shia LeBoeuf" or something like that.The commentary (available on the DVD versions of this movie) of Oliver Stone is wonderful.Stone went to two famous prep schools (Trinity School in Manhattan, and the Hill School) and then went to Yale U. Then to NYC Film School.He is an educated, cultured man, and his commentary is filled with references to Greek mythical figures like Tiresias and others one learns only when one goes to the best-of-the-best classical eastern USA private schools....which Oliver Stone did!The DVD commentaries part of "Wall Street II" are a pleasure to listen to, and that is also true of other commentaries Oliver Stone provides for other DVD's I've seen and heard done by him, especially including his "W" movie.He's smart, interesting, and his company is for sale in these DVD commentaries, and he's worth inviting to dinner!Make sure the dinner you provide has gourmet tasty food and a beautiful, intriguing, promising female dinner partner for your guest, Oliver Stone.Great company from a smart, interesting, intelligent, and gracious man.Get this "feel good" movie and keep it close.You won't regret it!-------------Written by Tex (David) Allen.

This sequel to Wall Street is an also-ran. A bit uneven in the plot, the Gecko-man is older but wiser... Or Is he? Or Isn't he? Is he still a greedy creep or did he grow a heart? Its hard to tell. Just when we all want to send him to jail again for stealing funds from his daughter, we hear him explain that yes he did try to use her, yes he is a creep, but she's all he's got so even though I've screwed you (again), let's somehow try to work this out. We see father and daughter getting warmer and fuzzier toward each other as the closing credits are about to roll, but I was left wondering what he was going to do to her next. A leopard doesn't change its spots. It did show how superficial and banal the world of high-stakes money can be. I loved the scene in which Gordon runs into a former high-powered colleague after getting out of jail and the man didn't have a clue who Gecko was. How quickly they forget. Of course, these empty greed-machines don't relate to people, they only care about the portfolio the person has and how they can grab a piece of it for themselves. All in all, I found the pace slower than the first flick, the plot contrived and thinner, with far less punch, and not nearly as memorable as the first. It was good to see Charlie Sheen again, in a cameo, sneering at Gordon at a party. But overall, it runs to my mind as an attempt to wring a few more bucks out of the Wall Street franchise, timed perfectly to appeal to all of us who might be just-a-little annoyed at what those creeps did to our economy in 2008...

I've worked on Wall Street my whole life. The first film was cut throat Ivan Boseky insider trading and raw greed at its finest. Michael Douglas was simply riveting. I had been waiting for the sequel ever since announced. Going opening day, I was stunned after watching it the first time. Yes, Oliver Stone nails the Collapse of Wall Street in 2008 with the mortgage meltdown. Every character can be parlayed into a real life individual involved in the Bear Stearns and Lehman collapse. But the real story is about second chances in life, fighting for family, doing the right thing, commitment to work and the price paid for loyalty. Shia Labeouf (Jake Moore) is at his best when he sets out on a course of vindictive revenge after James Brolin (Bretton James) causes the "perceived" collapse of Keller Zabel(KZI) and the suicide of his mentor and KZI's leader Lou Zabel.Michael Douglas (Gordon Gekko) and Shia Labeouf team up given that Jake is engaged to Gordon's daughter Winnie. They embark on path to understand KZI's collapse and to seek revenge, plus make a few dollars along the way for Gordon. Gordon and Jake make a series of "trades" to learn that Bretton James and his firm, Churchill Schwartz, were illegally betting on everything under the Sun to destroy KZI. Oliver Stone's attention to detail is STUNNING. Words won't do justice to the perfection of the each set. You have to know Wall Street to know that on a scale of 1 to 100, he gets a 99 because no one gets a 100. Gordon's real redemption is his name, reputation and a deep love for his family. Jake simply wants to do right by the death of Lou Zabel and persecute those respondsible. Wrap those emotions around a fast paced collapse of Wall Street, and you have a beautiful movie. Vetrans of investing will be amazed, but the film has a broad reach. One can't spoil the detail in the screen writer's brillance, but the lines are wit personified. To be "blamed for all disasters since Nintendo" speaks to taunt tone and wit. Best line of all is Gordon's---"When you stop telling lies about me, I'll stop telling the truth about you." Gordon finally does do right. One shouldn't spoil this film. I titled my review "Love, Life Family...." The last 20 minutes bring together all aspects of any excellent drama. On a personal note given Michael Douglas' condition, I will remember his 2 performances in Wall Stret with deep gratitude and always wish him good health. "Time is the most important thing in life." Well said Mr. Douglas

Well I saw this first , before wall street , on a plane to NYC from France .It is relevant to the 2008 non existent , non greedy , corrupt banker crash and subsequent totally against his values , and not at all supported by Obama wall street bail out by the tax payer . It covers this crash and the corruption of the money movers high on greed and power , extremist talk I know lol. Another great Oliver Stone movie -along with W , JFK , and any given sunday as being my favorite .Only downside is oliver stone could have done commentary to explain the reasons behind the 08 crash which the movie is supposed to be based on those who don`t talk wallstreet finance . He could have done a documentary like the first movie as with commentary .

While this is far removed from the classical British TV Stock Market series 'Capital City' 10 stars!, non the less, it is a great watch, and I actually watched Wall Street soon after it. I enjoyed both. Very pleased at the used price I paid.

If you liked Wall Street or similar stock market films, you should like this.

Good sequel. Only really bought it for the nostalgia value and was not disappointed. If it wasn't linked to the original film then I think it would have just been another film and would not have really stood out.

I have not seen the first film but this sequel was, IMO, a good follow up. It has Susan Sarandon in also. I couldn't tell you what the films about, that's all way over my head. But from what I did understand it didn't suck.