The stock market can be a fickle mistress, and when you have people that want to control it, you often have a kettle that risks boiling over. There are people in the business world, who have the sole goal of controlling as much as they possibly can, and making a fortune along the way. This leads to younger people being drawn to the allure of potential wealth, and with it comes the most morality based choices they will face. Oliver Stone decided to tackle this concept in 1987, with a film that would show the dark side of the stock market and everything revolving around it. What he ended up with, was a film that showed how shrewd the business world can be, and that there truly are people who think they are "Gods."

Charlie Sheen plays Bud Fox, an up-and-coming broker who wants to become as powerful as some of the people he has seen become successful. He is very impatient though, and sees many things as a waste of time, when he would rather be working towards his ultimate goal. That goal is to get to the top as soon as possible. Fox works for a second-tier firm, but doesn't like the approach he is taking. It's too slow. It's not risky enough. It doesn't wield enough power to satisfy his thirst. He knows he must make a move, and he sees his opportunity in a stock market shark, played by Michael Douglas. This is his opportunity to gain admittance to the big time, if he can just win over this corporate raider. This predator of the less fortunate.

Michael Douglas is Gordon Gekko. That is not to just say that he is playing the character on the big screen, but in a sense Douglas really is Gekko. Gekko is ruthless when it comes to making money, and he is in the business to do only that; make money. There isn't enough money out there to make Gekko to finish off his appetite, instead making him hungry to make more. In a sense of the word, he thinks it is his "duty" to do what he does best, and that is being greedy. We have seen this before, when the lead actor must come up against a power monger such as Gekko, but it is rare to see one as well played as Douglas does here. Gekko sees something in Fox, maybe a glimpse of himself, or maybe he sees him as a son, but he takes Fox under his wing, and plans to show him the world of business; Gekko style.

The characters of the film learn hard lessons about what greed can do to a person, with Douglas and Sheen showing an extraordinary on screen chemistry. Douglas is very strong in his role as Gekko, and we can see the power that he has in the palm of his hands. Sheen also plays the role of a naive kid very well, and together they are a blast to watch on the screen. Daryl Hannah is great in her role as an interior designer, and brings a lot to the film in her part as well. But, the real winner here was Oliver Stone, who make the complex workings of the scenes involving stock market jargon and business principles very understandable to the average audience. You don't get bogged down by the business dealings, nor do you get lost in the dialogue of the characters.

Wall Street is a movie all about greed, and we come away with a sense of awe of the world surrounding these men. We have seen the basic theme before, where a young man wants to be like the older man, will stop at nothing to accomplish it, and in turn is taken advantage of by that older man. The theme is of course over-shadowed by the great script and acting within this film, and I found myself really liking the entire premise. There are lessons to be learned by the actions that these characters take, and it proves that it is not always easy to make the right decision. Even though the film was made almost 20 years ago, the plot at the heart of it can be seen in far more than just the business world, and is very applicable to today's society. I highly recommend this film, and that if you haven't seen it, that you get on it right away. This is what I feel to be Michael Douglas at his very best, and it is a film that makes its mark quite fluidly.









Recommended:
Yes

Viewing Format: DVD