Wall Street

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Ron R Jan 28, 2019 Money easily made is money easily lost, or so the old adage goes, and yet there will always be people who are suckered into the dream of becoming rich overnight. In this film, Bud Fox is one of those people. He has talent, he has ambition, he has brains, and yet when confronted by the cold, hard reality of quick cash, Bud Fox folds like an origami swan. Michael Douglas won a well-deserved Academy Award for this, his best performance to date. He has created a slimy character in the form of Gordon Gekko, a man who honestly believes the underhanded activities he promotes are not only a profitable necessity but a patriotic mandate to boot. Gekko's perception of a free market society versus a democratic society is one of the most outstanding cinematic monologues outlining the idea of wealth dominating humanity. Douglas doesn't walk away with the entire show though. Charlie Sheen (as Bud Fox) really comes into his own with this film. "Platoon" gave him the opportunity to shine; "Wall Street" gave him the balls to stretch himself farther than I ever thought he'd be capable. It's a shame to see how far he has fallen since this film. Charlie's father Martin also steals his own portion of the spotlight in a role that should have won him his own Academy Award. His tense stare down with his son in an elevator was magnificent. For her part, Daryl Hannah is one of the most underrated actresses of her generation. She always had a tendency to be shoved into the role of the woman with a pretty face ("Splash," "Roxanne," etc.) and she always had a penchant to instill a vitality and an intellect into those roles far beyond what was written for them. Director Oliver Stone apparently could do no wrong during the latter half of the Eighties. Between this film, "Salvador," "Platoon," "Talk Radio," and "Born on the Fourth of July," Stone crafted a viciously insightful catalog of must-see cinema, shredding every outmoded concept he came across. Stones captures the pompous charisma of high-level stock trading and peels apart the layers until we're left with the unflattering truth. "Wall Street" will always rank high on my list of favorite films from 1987. Maybe it will become one of your favorites, too. See more

Finn W Dec 30, 2018 Wall Street is a superb morality tale that accurately reflects the attitudes of Wall St. tycoons while amusingly highlighting the excesses of the '80s. Bud Fox splurges on a Manhattan apartment and immediately overpays for cheap and tacky faux exposed brick walls (which he staples up). An automatic sushi maker appears on his counter. He is so absorbed in making money he can't slow down and enjoy the things or women he buys. Gordon Gekko is like Mitt Romney with Donald Trump's instincts. He is clearly a villain, which is why I'm surprised so many people on Wall St. even today see him as something of a role model, modeling their own dress and demeanor after him. Just enough is revealed about his past to make him believable (he is touchy about the subject of his mother, he went to a cheap college), without trying to make us feel sorry for the psychopathic character. Gekko regurgitates the attitudes of the Wall St. elite in a way that seems authentic. He channels Ayn Rand with his famous "Greed is good" line. He rails against the end of the gold standard, the rise of labor and laments the fall of gilded age tycoons. He is not a capitalist, he is a parasite. (Sir Larry represents more traditional capitalists.) Wall Street remains an entertaining and relevant movie. See more

Theodore S Nov 16, 2018 Let's be honest -- you're here for Michael Douglas's legendary turn as Gordon Gekko, aren't you? Well, you very well should be. The performance that got the actor his first and only Oscar as an actor is more than worth the watch. But there's also a lot of other fantastic work surrounding him, namely Charlie and Martin Sheen, who play a terrifically dynamic and meaningful father and son onscreen. Who would've thought, eh? Beyond that, though, you also have a screenplay here that's as worth its salt as you'd expect an Oliver Stone script to be worth. And on the subject of Stone, the movie is framed, shot, and stylized particularly well overall. An enjoyable watch. See more

Ron L Nov 5, 2018 to dive into this professional building.. Wall Street Stone's mean corporate world is unfortunately way too mechanical for it to be cinematic. But within these mundane textbook formula, he does manage to install tiny bits of delightful packets for us to enjoy. These are the bits that survives upon performance. It isn't independently a good movie. It relies a lot upon other factor, which often or not, aren't in its favor. And then, to fill in that void grows impossible even by a skillful filmmaker like Stone. It cannot be completely crafty. It does and ought to be commercial; the script is weaved out accordingly. Wieser and Stone, the writers, fails to keep the crisp alive. It isn't complex as the writers think. In fact, the structure of the script is something that we have seen earlier too. But the only thing that makes it stand alone, is its characters. The characters are immensely intriguing and are three dimensional. The perspective may stay on a single point, but the way the makers fiddle with the characters is what helps them keeps the audience tangled in its world. The performance is the soul reason why is it worth to dive into this professional building. And holding the crown at the center of the stage, Douglas is at his best in here. His monologues, speeches, ideologies and the way he looks at the black and white's of the world; every tiny aspect of it is appealing. His body language and dialogue delivery is what amps up this electrifying tale to a whole new level. Sheen has a parallel role to fill in, but he fails to live up to the power that Douglas oozes in front of him on the screen. Wall Street is a one way street, it doesn't care for the outcome of its methods, similar to its character, unfortunately the repercussions are catastrophic and inevitable. See more

Rey S Sep 15, 2018 A- An exceptional performance from Michael Douglas and Oliver Stone's direction are why the film works (and still holds up) as well as it does. See more

Han G Jul 30, 2018 Wall Street is something that I've been interested in seeing mainly because of Oliver Stone and Michael Douglas. The story is mostly focuses on Charlie Sheen's character, Bud Fox who is a stockbroker who becomes involved with Gordon Gekko played by Michael Douglas and yes, wouldn't you know it? He won an Oscar for his performance as Gordon Gekko. Amazing! This movie reminds me of The Wolf of Wall Street. Seems similar. Charlie Sheen had been previously working with Oliver Stone in Platoon which I haven't seen it yet. Michael Douglas is fantastic as Gordon Gekko and he did the execution of the character fantastically and he steals the show in every single scene he's been in and he says a line that I suppose many people remembered saying "Greed, for lack of a better word, is good." His acting in this is just flawless. Daryl Hannah is an obviously interesting choice but aside from that, she won a Razzie Award for Worst Supporting Actress. Why is that? I don't know why. Who knows. Martin Sheen plays Bud Fox's father. Charlie and Martin are both family in real life. They both did well in this film. I really, really enjoyed Wall Street and Michael Douglas is the best thing about it. In fact, this is the only film that ever won both an Oscar and a Golden Razzie. How ironic is that? While not the best film of Oliver Stone, it is still an very good experience. See more

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Wall Street

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