Blu-ray Review

Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps - Blu Ray

Directed by: Oliver Stone Cast: Michael Douglas, Shia LaBeouf, Josh Brolin, Carey Mulligan Running Time: 2 hrs 13 min Rating: PG-13 Due Out: December 21, 2010

PLOT:

Gordon Gekko (Michael Douglas) is out of prison for insider trading and a plethora of other white collar crimes, and he's skulking around in the background like the wise old exile. He joins forces with Jake Moore (Shia LaBeouf), a young hot-shot trader, in order to right the wrongs and be reunited with his daughter, Winnie (Carey Mulligan).

WHO'S IT FOR?

I'm not rightly sure. The majority of Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps is extremely watchable and then it veers into insulting and unrealistic. So, I guess it's for people who can happily watch 3/4 of a movie and then go amuse themselves elsewhere.

MOVIE:

"Wow!" I thought, thirty minutes into Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps, "I really disagree with the critics who didn't like this movie! This movie is really fascinating and well done!" Fast forward to the last 30 minutes and I'm wondering when the movie missed its left turn at Albuquerque. The story wants a different ending in a parallel universe, so it has its characters going through personal changes that just wouldn't happen - not ever. And it's insulting to try an about-face with the audience, because it would have been nicer if it happened another way. Gosh, history is just full of unpleasant endings! However, it's easier to put a better spin on something that happened several hundred years ago...not two years ago, and, arguably, is still going on. It's worse than naivete: it's quiting at the last possible minute to give us some slight heroes vs. villains satisfaction when that is an unpardonable oversimplification of the actual events. I was all set to love this movie and now I'm genuinely irritated with it for its glossy duplicity. I would've much preferred a movie with the balls to go whole hog, such as Wall Street: Commandos Kick Ass about a group of ex Recon guys who take over the federal bank and force it to make sane financial decisions. Stuff could blow up and the bad guy from the first Die Hard could play the head of AIG. Now there's an idea I can get behind.

MOVIE SCORE: 4/10

EXTRAS Audio Commentary by Director Oliver Stone A Conversation with Oliver Stone and the Cast of Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps Money, Money, Money: The Rise and Fall of Wall Street Deleted and Extended Scenes with Optional Commentary by Oliver Stone Fox Movie Channel Presents In Character With: Michael Douglas, Shia LaBeouf, Carey Mulligan, Josh Brolin, and Frank Langella