Wall Street

Wall Street (1987) is one of the films that defines the 80's American Lifestyle. A dog eat dog society fueled by greed, materialistic possessions, excess and drugs. People preying on others, a world of unscrupulous inside trading and the rise of yuppies. Oliver Stone is one of those film makers who knew the 80's inside out. People say John Hughes defined the 80's but Mr. Stone showed it's true side and it was ugly.

The film follows a low level day trader (Charlie Sheen) who strives to become a very powerful figure on Wall Street like his idol Gordon Geckko (Michael Douglas). To justify his rise to power, he uses his father (Martin Sheen) knowledge of the flight industry for his own personnel gains. He wants to get his foot into the door of the oily Geckko. Will he sell his soul for a quick buck? How far and fast will this rising star soar? To find these answers check out Wall Street.

This film was made immediately after Platoon. Stone made it clear that he wasn't going to let an Oscar winning malaise effect him. He explores the two fathers theme that he used in Platton and once again makes it work. A highly underrated film that has sadly been neglected by the mainstream audience. What makes it even sadder is the fact that it still applies today.

Highly recommended.

Wall Street" is a movie that seems to spark much debate. Basically, it is the working out of a moral struggle within young Wall Street trader Bud Fox (Charlie Sheen) between the values with which he was raised of hard work and success through actual creation, versus those of his mentor Gordon Gekko (Michael Douglas) who succeeds through corporate raiding and "creative destruction". From Bud's viewpoint his dad's (Martin Sheen's) road map for success and happiness seems old-fashioned to the point of being prehistoric compared to Gekko's, until Gekko sets his sights and his wrecking ball on his father's company, and Bud is forced to choose.

Many people associate this film with a liberal versus conservative viewpoint on business, a wild-west economy versus a planned economy and relegate this film to 1980's era nostalgia, like the now humorously giant cell phone Gekko is talking on as he walks along the beach. It is said that neither extreme works and that we've gradually settled towards something in the middle. However, the Gekkos of this world are smarter than that, and over the past 20 plus years they have set up an economic system that serves them well. What we now have is a situation where the haves and have-mores have a planned - almost Soviet - system in which the rules stratify them at the top. I cite the changes in bankruptcy law as exhibit A. The members of the labor force that serve them, however, are in the wild-west economy that was once advocated for everyone. Some will rise to the stratified top in this situation, but the vast majority will remain at the bottom shooting it out with each other - for scarce good jobs, good health care, education, etc. Thus, to me, Wall Street is just an opening chapter in the saga of how economic forces and attitudes toward them have changed, not the portrait of a 25 year-old fad that has come and gone.

Michael Douglas deservedly won an Oscar for his portrayal of the ruthless, chain-smoking capitalist guru, Gordon Gekko, who leads Charlie Sheen's Bud Fox down the garden path to Wall Street's hidden abyss. Good supporting cast includes Sean Young, James Spader, reliable Hal Holbrook, and the wonderful Sylvia Miles. Tight direction, perceptive script with realistic techno-lingo, fabulous production design, dazzling cinematography of the Manhattan skyline, and hip 80's music rev up the technical quality of this Oliver Stone "message" film. If only the message had been more reassuring.

Gekko is a villain and an outlaw, but mostly he comes across to viewers as a worldly tough guy, a charming bully with a glamorous lifestyle. We see his high-class mega-office, his plush home and chic wife, his expensive paintings, his rapid-fire commands to his robotic lieutenants, his snazzy clothes and "in vogue" friends. Here and there we see his frustrations, but that only accentuates his toughness. We do not see him suffer, nor do we see the consequences of his selfish, Machiavellian behavior.

As a result, to viewers, especially to those youthful, bright, materialistic Americans with a smug, "can do" attitude, and disdain for ethics, Gekko is, unfortunately, someone to admire, a Wall Street role model.

Deceptively deep and complex picture from co-writer/director Oliver Stone paints a vivid portrait of 1980s over-excesses as the age of "Me, Me, Me" (otherwise known as the 1980s) is explored through the eyes of a young, eager and impatient stockbroker (Charlie Sheen) who moonlights as a liaison to a heartless, ruthless and crazily greedy mega-millionaire (Michael Douglas in a smashing Oscar-winning turn) who seemingly has his hands on most every aspect of big business. Naturally dilemmas occur in every direction for Sheen as the lifestyle he wants comes at a very heavy price (both literally and figuratively). A strained relationship with his father (real-life dad Martin Sheen) and a whirlwind fling with the superficial Daryl Hannah just leads to more and more cinematic fireworks. "Wall Street" is really the only film I can think of to deal seriously with its subject matter. Everyone of the age remembers the yuppie phase this nation had in the mid-1980s. Young urban professionals did their best to make as much as they could as fast as possible (sometimes through crooked and illegal means). The idea of retiring at 40 seemed like a good notion, but those same people with those thoughts are still working today (they never made their millions or they made their money and ended up going into a lifetime of debt because they spent their earnings quicker than they could make it). Ultimately the 1980s was good while it lasted, but good like that never lasts forever and that becomes painfully clear as Sheen's character becomes a warning to all those who think they can out-think and manipulate a strained economic system. Douglas is a complete revelation. I mean there is no doubt that he is an excellent performer, but his portrayal of a money- and power-mad player in New York is truly one of those instances of classic career work being achieved. Super-slick, wickedly intelligent and definitely a thinking person's movie, "Wall Street" continues to strike a chord when looking back at a very unique time of American economic history. 4.5 out of 5 stars.

(The speech about the 1% is more important than the greed speech.) "It's not a question of enough, pal. It's a Zero Sum game - somebody wins, somebody loses. Money itself isn't lost or made, it's simply, transferred - from one perception to another. Like magic." If you made a list of best New York movies, it would probably be blasphemous not to include work from Woody Allen or Martin Scorsese. However, for me, this might be the ultimate movie set in the financial capital of the world. I guess this is obvious, but it's hard to replicate the chemistry that a real father and son have. Martin and Charlie Sheen are near perfect together in every scene. Michael Douglas reaches god-mode as Gordon Gekko. Maybe my favorite performances of the 1980s? The most famous cellphone in the history of movies? If you want to have some fun, do a bit of research on the gigantic cellular device. The mash-up of everyone buying/selling stock on Wall-Street is pure ecstasy. Inject it straight into my veins! The screenplay is perfect. So smart. As an economics teacher, I'm probably biased, but I'm hooked on every word! A masterpiece!