Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps

Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps, Oliver Stone's sequel to his 1987 smash, was originally scheduled for release at the beginning of the year, and we would have looked at it for its satirical attack on the money system that has made almost every country in recession. However, after the announcement that Michael Douglas has throat cancer, and this could be his last film, the focus has most definitely shifted.

Jake is a high-flying whiz-kid banker who has a taste for making money from alternative energy. When the bank he works for goes under and the top man throws himself under a train, Jake wants retribution as well as someone else to take hold of his pet project. He then meets Gordon Gecco, newly released from prison for his insider trading antics, and starts taking his advice. Things get out of hand, especially as the woman Jake is in a relationship with just happens to be Gecco's daughter.

Stone covers fairly familiar ground as he did with the first film, except we live in very different times. In the 80s, greed was good and the yuppie was king. Here, greed has left the banking world in a mess as they fight between themselves to get power and control of operations. There's plenty of techno babble that sometimes leaves you confused but the same can be said about Wall Street. This time, Stone has thrown a battle of family in the middle of this film and that makes for a more interesting premise.

He also has made the bankers seem more like the Mafia, with their suited meetings that wouldn't look out of place in The Godfather. These moments work. The film does suffer from a storyline that breezes over you, and you leave thinking it was OK but not up there with the classic that the original has become. Mainly to blame, or not, is Shia LeBeouf. He is given the duty to carry the film, and he is, quite frankly, adequate. This could be how it was written, or it could be how he decided to play it but often than not he is acted off the screen by his fellow cast members.

Carey Mulligan, as Jake's girlfriend, just goes from strength to strength and in a role that usually isn't a focal point, she manages to make it so, doing it with ease. The comparisons with a young Audrey Hepburn are there too and it wouldn't surprise me that she doesn't get a nod at next year's Oscars. Josh Brolin, obviously trying to forget the disastrous Johan Hex, sinks his teeth into this role with aplomb as the baddie.

The film, though, belongs to Douglas. Winning the Oscar as Gecco for the original film, he commands the screen with every scene he appears in, and you cannot wait for his next appearance. In some shots, the similarities to his dad, Kirk, are amazing. He has brought Gordon Gecco full circle, and if this is to be his swan song, it couldn't be a more fitting way to bow out, playing the role he will always be remembered for.