Wall Street

Starring: Michael Douglas, Charlie Sheen, Daryl Hannah, Martin Sheen, John C. McGinley, Hal Holbrook, James Karen, Terence Stamp, Sean Young, James Spader
Directed by: Oliver Stone
Rating: R
Genre: Drama
1987

Times Seen:
Tim: 2

Summary: A young stockbroker (Charlie Sheen) goes to work for Gordon Gekko (Michael Douglas), a greedy Wall Street tycoon willing to go to any length- legal or illegal- to make a buck.

Review:

Tim: Oliver Stone's Wall Street is an very good movie, a classic tale of Wall Street excess, of greed, money, and power. It's a cautionary tale, but also a reflection of the corporate work in the late 1980s. It's a very strong film, and one I really enjoyed. It feels like an important movie- one that entertains, but also has something to say.

The film is really about a young stockbroker, played by Charlie Sheen, who gets in over his head working with a greedy corporate big shot, played by Michael Douglas. The dynamic between these two characters and actors is what makes the movie special. The casting was pretty terrific.

Michael Douglas gives an incredible performance as Gordon Gekko. He makes this character an iconic, unforgettable one. Douglas is just a powerful force on screen. What I loved is that he never goes over-the-top. He manages to give a larger-than-life performance, but it never seems silly, even for a second. He wisely toed the line perfectly. I was really glad he won the Academy Award for Best Actor (the film's only Oscar nom). He absolutely deserved it. Douglas gives one of the best performances of the 80s here.

Charlie Sheen isn't quite as good as Douglas, but in many ways, his performance is more important than Douglas'. Sheen is the audience's proxy into the high-stakes world of Wall Street. It's through his eyes that we follow the story. He gives a terrific performance- his journey from average stockbroker to where he is at the end of the film is pretty incredible. He nails the everyman quality of Bud Fox, and that was so important to the overall quality of the film.

The supporting cast is good, too. I loved seeing Martin Sheen as Charlie's dad. He is such a terrific actor and it was fun seeing these two on screen together. They were great. I loved seeing John C. McGinley in a supporting role and it's always fun seeing Hal Holbrook. I just wish he had a bit of a bigger role. I really liked seeing James Spader in a small role, too. This brings me to Daryl Hannah. I feel bad because she took a lot of criticism for her role. True, she's not very good in the movie. Her performance is wooden and a bit hard to believe. However, I don't think she is quite as terrible as many people claimed. She's not good, but I think her performance just looks even worse when you have Michael Douglas giving an Oscar winning performance, and the two Sheens both adding in excellent work. Compared to all that talent, her flaws are exposed even more.

Wall Street is a really strong movie. Stone does an incredible job of telling a high-stakes, thrilling story about the pressures of Wall Street. The movie does have some flaws- even at 126 minutes, the movie feels a bit too long. Still, this is a solid film and one that is absolutely worth seeing.

Rating 1-10
Tim's Rating: 7.5



If You Enjoyed This Movie, We Recommend: Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps, JFK