Wall Street 2 Review from Cannes

By Roger Friedman

Oliver Stone’s “Wall Street” sequel, subtitled “Money Never Sleeps,” is a hit. It’s a formula Hollywood movie in the great sense. For the first time in a long time, the formula works.

There are many good things to say about “Money Never Sleeps.” The script sings and zings with excellent dialogue and memorable one liners. It’s a simple story of greed and morality, with a twist you can see from the beginning. But the players are winning, and Stone doesn’t get bogged down. He plays the 2008 financial crisis like an end of the world movie. It’s “Deep Impact” but the falling Dow Jones averages are meteors hurtling to Earth.

Michael Douglas returns as Gordon Gekko after 23 years. It’s a slow starter performance, deceptively sly. I kind of prefer him this year in “Solitary Man,” but don’t be mistaken: as he says in the film, Gordon Gekko is back.

Lots of great supporting performances: Shia LeBoeuf, Josh Brolin, Carey Mulligan, John Mailer, Susan Sarandon are all great. Eli Wallach is just perfect as the head a sinking Wall Street firm. He’s 93 and better than ever. Charlie Sheen has a welcome, winning cameo as Bud Fox. Sylvia Miles returns as the cranky real estate agent.

Read the rest here.

"Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps" Trailer Is Out

Oliver Stones' film, "Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps," originally scheduled for an April release is now scheduled for a September launch. The first trailer is out, below.

The Return of Gordon Gekko

Wall Street 2: Money Never Sleeps is the sequel to Wall Street and Vanity Fair has a clip as Annie Leibovitz photographs Michael Douglas in conjunction with the film.



Here's VF's attempt at decoding what the film will be about:

When Gekko comes out of prison, in the beginning of this movie, he essentially has to redefine himself,” says Stone. “He’s looking for that second chance.”

He gets it in a plot that pivots around Shia LaBeouf as Jacob “Jake” Moore, a hungry young hedge-funder who is dating Gekko’s estranged daughter, Winnie, played by Carey Mulligan. Jake believes that his boss, Bretton James, played by the omnipresent Josh Brolin, has somehow had a hand in the death of Jake’s mentor. Gekko agrees to aid the fresh-faced Jake in his plans for revenge.

Yes, the world has changed, but can Gordon Gekko? Douglas, for one, is playing things coy. “Gekko couldn’t manipulate the markets like he did back then,” he says. “It’s so big, so huge, that to be a minor player you need to be a major bank.” Or want to be. Hmm.

Uh, fact check: In Wall Street, Gekko didn't "manipulate markets". He was a takeover artist and inside trader.