WALL STREET

    SUMMARY

                An ambitious young broker is lured into the illegal, lucrative world of corporate espionage when he is seduced by the power status and financial wizardry of Wall Street legend Gordon Gekko. But he soon discovers that the pursuit of overnight riches comes at a price that's too high to pay.

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DAVE G'S WALL STREET REVIEW:          

Can a film about finance be interesting and entertaining? Well it seems with director Oliver Stone (‘Platoon’, ‘Salvador’) at the helm it certainly can be. With some well developed characters Stone manages to make ‘Wall Street’ a film about finance but allows it to contain so much drama that the audience is easily able to understand it. More importantly his script is good enough to make this world accessible and understandable for those who know nothing about finance. More importantly it’s a script that holds your interest.

 Bud Fox (Charlie Sheen – ‘No Man’s Land’, ‘Three For The Road’) is the son of a blue collar worker, Carl Fox (Martin Sheen – ‘Siesta’, ‘The Believers’), but while Carl is happy to stay as a hard worker at an airline Bud dreams of making fast money on Wall Street. While struggling to make his name as a stockbroker Bud chases one of the New York’s richest men, Gordon Gekko (Michael Douglas – ‘Fatal Attraction’, ‘A Chorus Line’) – a man who lives by the belief of ‘Greed Is Good’. Bud looks up to Gekko as he teaches him the ‘rules of business’ – most of which are illegal.

 The secret to making ‘Wall Street’ work is by the way that Stone makes Bud Fox such a likable character. Yes he does some despicable acts but really the story at hand is not too dissimilar to a film like ‘Coyote Ugly’ – it’s a young person chasing their dreams, they are right out of their depth and they have the potential to be corrupted. You do genuinely feel for Bud because he is ultimately chasing what we all want… and that is to be the best at your job. Stone tests the character of Bud relentlessly and early on we see him seduced by this big new world and the audience is left on the edge of their seat by the time Bud is facing his biggest test – a test that could see him hurt his family.

 Apart from an excellent script ‘Wall Street’ also consists of some amazing acting performances. The young Charlie Sheen is terrific as Bud but even he is over-shadowed by an awesome performance by Michael Douglas – who makes the smarmy Gordon Gekko character his own and brings him to screen in such a way that he is as evil as any Hollywood serial killer. There is also a wonderful performance by ‘Scrubs’ star John C. McGinley who shines despite the fact he is just a co-star.

 ‘Wall Street’ is an alarmingly realistic look at New York’ financial world and Stone brings it to the big screen in a terrific way. You may say you don’t like or understand finance but I guarantee this film will suck you in and have you so far entrenched in this world that you’ll be screaming out for the sequel. A great script and some fine acting make one hell of a film.

RATING:- **** (out of 5)

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