Saturday, December 04, 2010

Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps

Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps / Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps. US © 2010 Twentieth Century Fox / Dune. PC: Edward R. Pressman Film. P: Eric Kopeloff, Edward R. Pressman, Oliver Stone. D: Oliver Stone. SC: Allan Loeb, Stephen Schiff - based on the characters by Stanley Weiser and Oliver Stone (1987). DP: Rodrigo Prieto - digital intermediate: Efilm. PD: Kristi Zea. COST: Ellen Mirojnick. Makeup: Jane Choi, Ande Yung - (for Mr. Douglas): Leslie Fuller. M: Craig Armstrong. S: Wylie Stateman. ED: David Brenner, Julie Monroe. CAST: Michael Douglas (Gordon Gekko), Shia LaBeouf (Jake Moore), Josh Brolin (Bretton James), Carey Mulligan (Winnie Gekko), Eli Wallach (Jules Steinhardt), Susan Sarandon (Jake's mother), Frank Langella (Louis Zabel) - Sylvia Miles (realtor), Oliver Stone (investor), Warren Buffett (himself), Charlie Sheen (Bud Fox). 136 min. (U.S. release 20 Sep, Finnish release 1 Oct, 2010). Released in Finland by FS Film with Finnish / Swedish subtitles by Minna Franssila / Sophia Beckman-De-La-Riva. A 35 mm projection at Tennispalatsi 5, Helsinki, 4 Dec 2010.

Oliver Stone has in this film the best possible material for a topical drama, tragedy, and / or satire, and the film starts well. Gordon Gekko became a symbol of the 1980s capitalism, and now we follow with him the progress to the 2008 financial earthquake the full implications of which still remain unknown. Michael Douglas in great shape as Gekko.

The progress to the conclusion is a disappointment, a case of easy-watching wish-fulfillment entertainment. But the film is worth seeing because of the first half's dramatization of contemporary financial speculation.

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