When legendary movies get remade or have a sequel produced, the launch is often awaited with a sense of dread and anticipation. The hype concerning the 2nd “Wall Street” movie has just such that air. Lots of people have been waiting for “Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps”. The first film was launched, and partly inspired by, the stock exchange crash 1980s. The real estate crash of 2008 is the inspiration for the new film, as Douglas returns to his Oscar winning role as Gekko. The dilemmas and perils of unchecked avarice are the common threads of both movies.
The new ‘Wall Street’
The more things change, the more they stay the exact same. The 2nd movie, equally the first, takes place in the midst of a financial crisis, and within the sequel, it is the real estate crisis of 2008. What is assumed is that notorious corporate raider Gordon Gekko is just being released from prison, as a result of events from the first film. It is an iconic role. It won Douglas an Oscar, and legions of enthusiasts. Gekko starts giving lectures to students, and then decides to help his daughter’s fiancé, played by Shia LeBeouf, to bring down a corrupt hedge fund manager. The movie, erroneously referred to as “Wall Street 2,” is designed to be a story of redemption.
Real world of Wall Street
The movie is just a movie. Most individuals on Wall Street really get that. A post within the Wall Street Journal by Martin Fridson opines that the movie captured popular outrage, but that it ignores actual causes of the 2008 crash. An anonymous corporate attorney, according to ABC, said that the film is fine as entertainment, however can’t be taken seriously as a critique of actual events. Hollywood takes license with historical events, which is not exactly a secret. Many events in history, which were really very complex, were bent for the sake of sensation. The film really employed a fair number of Wall Street insiders as technical advisors. A few have lamented that Stone didn’t treat on the complexities of the market well enough within the film.
Poor examples can wreck the bunch
The adage about bad apples spoiling the bunch is true. Numerous on Wall Street work incredibly ethically and unbelievably hard. That said, that kind of thing does not sell tickets or magazines unfortunately. The movie “Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps” would be dull if that was the subject.
Further reading
ABC News
abcnews.go.com/Business/films-taking-wall-street/story?id=11712654 and page=3
Wall Street Journal
blogs.wsj.com/marketbeat/2010/09/24/a-wall-street-veteran-on-wall-street-2/
