Twenty-three years ago, Oliver Stone's Wall Street (1987) came out at a time when the world was reeling from the shock of an economic crisis defined by Black Monday, the day of 19 October 1987 when the global stock market suffered the largest one-day percentage decline. Stone's movie introduced audiences to a world that was largely alien to many-, a world hidden inside the Ivory Towers of our financial institutions- and more significantly, to the people behind these institutions whom his lead character Gordon Gecko represented.
"Greed is good!" said Gordon, a by-now iconic line that no doubt inadvertently served as inspiration for stock traders since then. And apparently, that greed has been left unchecked for the past 23 years- where Gordon himself aptly observes- it has since become legal. Like its predecessor, "Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps" comes at a time when the world is still reeling from the shock of an economic crisis, one that has since been dubbed the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression. So despite coming more than two decades after Michael Douglas career-defining (read: Academy Award) performance, there's really no question whether or not this sequel is still relevant.
It is, and very much so in fact, as Stone's savvy writers Allan Loeb and Stephen Schiff have skilfully adapted the real-life fates of Bear Sterns and JP Morgan into Keller Zabel Investments (KWI) and Churchill Schwartz respectively for the film. KWI is where young hotshot Jake Moore works at- one of its lion head founders Louis Zabel (Frank Langella) like a father figure to him. But the crisis takes its toll on KWI and as its stock price plunges, the bank finds itself in meetings with the Federal Reserve Board, mirroring the fate of Bear Sterns right down to the paltry single-digit share price negotiated by the government for JP Morgan.
Zabel succumbs to the pressure and commits suicide, leading Jake to set his sights on Schwartz's head honcho Bretton James (Josh Brolin), the arrogant manipulator responsible for proposing the ludicrous buyout package to Zabel. Jake gains Bretton's trust by displaying his financial acumen, and a large part of the subsequent cat-and-mouse game depends on your understanding of certain inherently complex economic concepts like sub-prime mortgage-backed securities and credit default swaps. Through graphs on the New York skyline, split-screens and TV news clips, Stone tries his best to explain these concepts to his audience- though despite his efforts, unless you're a finance major, you're unlikely to comprehend all the intricacies.
Still, you're likely to grasp more than enough to gasp at the absurdities behind the financial apocalypse- the power-players behind the banks whose greed precipitated the crisis in the first place, the brokering with the Federal Reserve for more liquidity in order to keep them afloat (we're too big to fail they say) and the sheer ignorance of their own level of exposure. Stone does not disguise his own leanings on the subject (even appearing in a brief cameo) but he knows better than to preach to his audience or get in the way of what already is compelling by virtue of its authenticity.
This sequel is also richer for expanding on the representations in the earlier film. Bretton is the new Gekko, the new breed of smarmy Wall Street sharks whose unbridled greed for money thrives in shades of grey and 'moral hazards'. Gekko on the other hand has become somewhat of a mentor for Jake, the Charlie Sheen-Bud Fox equivalent in this sequel. His ambition no means diminished, Gekko is the older generation whose instincts are sharper and shrewder- his observations on the current state of the financial crisis accurate and critical. And Jake is the proverbial hotshot hoping to make his name, the finance majors who go from the classrooms of the Ivy League colleges into the offices of the big names on Wall Street.
Against this backdrop, Stone weaves in a strong family story. Jake's fiancé, Winnie (Carey Mulligan) estranged from her father, Gekko, blames him for the death of her brother. While Jake tries to patch relations between Winnie and Gekko, he has intentions of his own seeking advice from Gekko behind Winnie's back. Each of these characters and their motivations are nicely fleshed out, and the twists and turns of their fates are food for thought of the often polarising choices between family and money and its concomitant consequences.
Stone also has a great cast assembled for the film. With a grayer head of hair, Michael Douglas returns in excellent form as Gordon Gekko, bringing a fresh sensibility to his role brought on by the years of experience. Shia LaBeouf acquits himself admirably in a dramatic role that doesn't require him to get jumpy the way he usually acts (see Transformers and Indiana Jones). Carey Mulligan is heartbreakingly good as the moral centre of the film. Brolin- fresh off Stone's last film W.- more than fills the shoes as the villain-equivalent Gordon here. Other veterans like Susan Sarandon as Jake's mother and Eli Wallach as Schwartz's patriarch steal the brief scenes they are in.
But the greatest praise should be reserved for Oliver Stone, whose return to Wall Street finds him at his most assured and confident for many years. He directs with the proceedings with brio and verve, accompanied by an appropriately retro soundtrack by David Bryne and Brian Eno, as well as Rodrigo Prieto's luscious cinematography. Just as admirable was his patience at holding back this sequel until 23 years later, a wait that has proved astute in providing the film with a keen sense of relevance. Not only is it relevant, it is also important as a cautionary tale- even more so if one ponders the stronghold our financial institutions have over all our businesses and activities today, including the very financing of this film.
