Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps
Director: Oliver Stone
Year Released: 2010
Rating: 2.0
Tepid sequel to the 1985 Stone picture has Gordon Gekko (Michael Douglas) fresh out of jail and ready to get back into the game of hustling people and raking in fistfulls of cash, but has the added problem of trying to reconcile with his long-lost daughter (Carey Mulligan, contractually required to cry in every movie she's in) and her fiancé, a young broker (Shia LaBeouf). I appreciate Stone's attempt to comment on the Current Financial Crisis, but this is scattered and flat, with the movie's sole dynamic character - the Douglas character - sidelined (for the most part) in order to drift sloppily to the less-compelling LaBeouf-Mulligan romance, and LaBeouf's conflict with bland baddie Josh Brolin. The aesthetics are particularly grating in this picture: Stone goes with flashing numbers and ugly David Byrne tracks to try to make it more 'hip' than it is. Come on, green energy (bubble or not)....
