‘Wall Street’s’ money in the bank

Oliver Stone has never been crazier than he is now, with his idolization of Hugo Chavez and his belief Hollywood is controlled by Jews. Despite the explosions in his brain, Stone has created one of his most enjoyable movies in years with “Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps.”

The film picks up approximately 14 years after the events of the last film, in 2001, as Gordon Gekko (Michael Douglas reprising his Oscar-winning role) is being released from prison. This section is only a tiny detour, and the film jumps again to 2008.
Gekko is now an author with a book whose title questions his famous line: “Is Greed Good?” It looks like he’s gone straight, and Gekko even predicts the collapse before it happens.

Things are complicated with Shia LaBeouf’s character, Jake Moore, who is engaged to Gekko’s estranged daughter Winnie (played by the always charming Carey Mulligan). Jake is a successful trader who specializes in green energy.

Although it seems that he truly cares about the good the industry might do, he also hopes to make millions from it, and his goals remain somewhat ambiguous.

Jake thinks that repairing Winnie and Gordon’s relationship might be beneficial for everyone, so he meets with Gekko privately to set it up. Everyone but Jake seems to know this is a bad idea, and Gekko might not even be the straight arrow that he appears to be.

Josh Brolin plays the film’s most obvious villain, while Frank Langella plays Jake’s mentor. Both contribute excellent performances. But even with great actors, the film sags at points. Where the first film was perhaps a bit too cold, this one feels too sentimental in some of the family scenes.

There’s also an unfortunate Charlie Sheen cameo. Half the audience thought he was playing a more obnoxious version of himself, not Bud Fox from the first film. If Fox’s reward for finally doing the right thing is to turn into Charlie Sheen, what could possibly motivate Gekko to do something good? That question is left unanswered, but the film is still enjoyable enough to make you forget about Sheen.