Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps DVD Review

• 31st Jan 2011

Gordon Gekko returns in this well timed sequel to his Oscar winning turn.  The world it seems has gotten greedier and Gekko is released from a long stint in prison with not much money and even less family. His luck it seems could change when an eager young trader (who happens to be engaged to his daughter) shows his enthusiasm for Gekko. He is eager to learn from a master and also keen to take out some revenge on a rival trader who may be responsible for his mentors suicide.

This film was made at the right time to make comment on the financial world. The problem is that instead of getting gritty and heavy on that subject, Stone decided to revolve the story around a rather dull romance between Shia LaBeouf and Carey Mulligan’s characters.  LaBeouf is one of the world’s most fortunate actors today. He has worked with some of Hollywood’s biggest names but like Colin Farrell, he also happens to have appeared in the worst of these director’s works.  But unlike Farrell, LaBeouf must take a large share of the blame. He simply just doesn’t have any gravitas about him and plays a very thinly veiled model of a person in each of his screen roles. He lacks both depth and anything even relating to compassion.

It is never more evident of his poor quality as an actor when sharing scenes with the likes of Frank Langella, Josh Brolin and Michael Douglas. All of these actors are what make the film enjoyable when it is. Langella has strength and pathos, Brolin adds a third dimension to an otherwise seedy banker and Douglas reprises his role with ease. Carey Mulligan fares no better than LaBeouf though as she meanders through her role like a stroppy model.

Stone should have more conviction in the subject matter and perhaps centred it on Douglas, instead of having him play guest star in his own show all of which seems to serve a twist towards the end of the picture (which itself is nullified by one of the worst cringe-worthy final scenes in recent memory).

The style of the picture at least does reflect the first film. Stuart Copeland’s quirky score is gone and replaced by an endless montage utilising the same couple of songs. At least the effort has been made here to draw parallels with the first film – even if they are not quite so relevant in terms of the plot.

If you are a large fan of the original then this film is still an enjoyable watch, if not a patch on the first. But there is a nice cheeky walk on scene with Charlie Sheen’s Bud Fox at a dinner which does raise a smile.

The DVD offers only a small featurette on Gekko.

Steven Hurst