Film Review: Wall Street with Michael Douglas
Corporate Shark Mentors a Young and Impressionable Stock Broker
It was the 1980s, a decade of unstoppable greed. At the heart of it all were yuppies who set their sights on making big bucks on Wall Street and getting all the good stuff that money could buy. This film portrayed the American free enterprise system as a dog eat dog world in which Michael Douglas' character calmly advocated that, "greed, for lack of a better word, is good."
It has been almost twenty-two years since he made that statement in Wall Street. Directed by Oliver Stone, the movie was inspired by the real life insider trading scandal of 1986.
Charlie Sheen as Bud Fox
Sheen is a relatively anonymous stock trader in a mid-sized firm in Manhattan. He's doing okay, making a respectable if not a fabulous salary. But he wants more. He wants to be a player, a high roller, somebody who can make it the big leagues.
To do this he figures out how to meet his hero, financial wizard Gordon Gekko. An immensely powerful man on Wall Street with the money to back it up, Gekko chews up and spits out smaller companies. In desperation Fox pitches some insider information about Bluestar Airlines, the company that employs his father Carl (Martin Sheen).
Gekko appreciates the heads up and sees dollar signs. He takes Fox under his wing and teaches his new protégé how to make money quickly, although he doesn't use methods that are entirely ethical or legal. He is awarded with a trophy girlfriend named Darien (Daryl Hannah) and gains Gekko's confidence.
Michael Douglas as Gordon Gekko
With his expensive suits and slicked back hair, Gekko takes no prisoners in the world of stock/junk bond trading. He has lost all compassion for people on his way up to the top. At a shareholders' meeting he prepares to take over Teldar Paper, a poorly managed company. It is then in the film's most memorable scene that the tycoon gives his greed is good speech.
.......Greed is right. Greed works. Greed clarifies, cuts through, and captures the essence of the evolutionary spirit. Greed, in all of its forms, greed for life, for money, for love, knowledge has marked the upward surge of mankind. And greed, you mark my words, will not only save Teldar Paper, but that other malfunctioning corporation called the USA.......
Insider Trading and the Manipulation of Stocks
Bud was privy to union negotiations concerning Bluestar Airlines and gave this information to Gekko. When he finds out that Gekko is planning to sell all of the company's assets and leave everyone unemployed, Bud cooks up a scheme to pull the rug out from under Gekko's feet. It works and the airline is saved.
Bud, unfortunately, is arrested for securities fraud. Later when he meets Gekko in the park, his mentor viciously assaults him. Unbeknownst to Gekko, Bud was carrying a tape that recorded their last conversation. The eventual fate of Gekko was unknown and open to speculation.
The movie gives the audience a glimpse of a world that most people will never see. With Gekko's enormous office decorated with unbelievably expensive art, to Bud's new condo, likewise decorated a little too over the top, the film is riveting and it's hard not be entranced by the seemingly endless supply of disposable income. The film's most powerful message is that there is a price tag attached to everything, even the soul.
Michael Douglas will reprise his role as Gordon Gekko in an upcoming sequel to Wall Street, named Wall Street 2: Money Never Sleeps, due to be released in 2010.
Starring: Charlie Sheen, Michael Douglas, Daryl Hannah, Martin Sheen, Terence Stamp, Hal Holbrook, John C. McGinley.
Original Release Date: December 11, 1987
Approximate Running Time: 126 minutes
One Hundred U.S. Dollars
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