We saw Wall Street since the sequel is coming out soon. We wanted to be able to compare the sequel to the original film. That being said, we also realize that this film is 23 years old and we wanted to judge it from the eyes of a viewer in that time period.
Wall Street was directed by Oliver Stone and stars Michael Douglas, Charlie Sheen, Martin Sheen, Sean Young, Daryl Hannah, John C McGinley, Terrence Stamp,. Hal Holbrook, and James Spader. The story focuses on a young stocktrader, Bud Fox (Charlie Sheen) whose got ambition and wants to meet the great Gordan Gekko (not Geico!) and share his ideas. His friend and coworker played by John C McGinley, doesn't think he stands a chance of ever getting in. He finally just goes to Gekko's office and gets 5 minutes to meet Gekko. Gekko is impressed with this young man and decides to mentor him in his ways. Fox's dad (Martin Sheen), doesn't like Gekko at all and warns Bud to avoid him. Fox Senior owns a plane company and is leary of Gekko and his ways. Bud Fox goes to Gekko's house one night and meets the love interest Daryl Hannah. Why on earth they cast her as the love interest is beyond me. She's not a great actress, she's not attractive, her face is very manly. Suzy even cracked that she looked like a drag queen! We also meet Gekko's wife, Sean Young here. The only reason she is in this movie is because she was considered "eye candy". The women literally have nothing to do here. The other actors are in smaller roles, Spader is Gekko's lawyer, Hal Holbrook is Fox Jr's boss.
The film takes us down this road about greed and what it will do to you. Bud Fox is shown as a shallow, ambitious man who will do what it takes to get ahead, which is just what Gekko is looking for. Unfortunately, we don't really like any of the characters except for maybe Fox Senior, he's the only one with any integrity. The film does move at a quick pace, sweeping you up in the crazy world of the NYSE, but that's all it does. The remorse Sheen shows once he finally wakes up, is stupid and fake. His crying was funny in what is supposed to be a big scene. Michael Douglas and Martin Sheen were great, but Douglas' lines were annoying. He spoke in cliches all the way through the movie! Enough already, noone speaks that way! That was beyond ridiculous. All of his lines were oneliners, and of course, there is his famous "Greed is good!" speech, which was the best part of this whole mess.
Don't get me wrong, I've seen films from Oliver Stone that I like, but this was not good. The story spends a whole lot of time building up, then wraps everything up in about 10 minutes, with no real satisfying conclusion. It's just kind of there. A lot of things happen that are completely pointless, there is a conversation between Douglas and Hannah that makes no sense, they must have left that storyline on the cutting room floor, because what she says comes out of nowhere and is out of sync with the rest of the movie. The remorse of Bud Fox is utterly implausible, and outlandish, it doesn't really make a lot of sense in keeping with the flow of the film. Along with that, the story just isn't that compelling.
For those who want to see this, be warned, the language is rough. There are quite a few f bombs in it, along with other harsh swearing. There is also some nudity that comes outta nowhere and a sex scene (in shadows, so nothing too graphic). I really didn't like this movie (can you tell?). 1 1/2 gold bricks for the blah Wall Street. Hope the sequel is worth my time.
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