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Posted on Fri, Sep 24, 2010 : 12:50 p.m.

'Wall Street' sequel wants to have it both ways

By AnnArbor.com Freelance Journalist

Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps Opens today at Rave, Quality 16, Brighton Review by Jeff Meyers of the Metro Times Grade: C+

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Let’s be honest, Michael Douglas’ masterfully smarmy performance aside, "Wall Street" wasn’t all that great of a movie to begin with. A hamfisted fable of greed vs. virtue that had the good fortune to land in theaters a few weeks after 1987’s Black Monday, it rode the zeitgeist of public outrage over greedy bankers and stockbrokers while enshrining its suspender-wearing villain Gordon Gecko as a role model for the very target of its criticism. Despite director Oliver Stone’s black-and-white moralizing, Gecko’s white-collar malevolence became a real-world template for two decades of psychopathic Wall Street behavior.

It all looks so quaint now. Gecko is a rank amateur when you compare him to Bernie Madoff or the relentless avarice and political influence of Goldman Sachs. Amazing what a few million credit-default swaps and subprime mortgages will do to redefine scale. In 23 years, we’ve gone from billions to trillions in government-sanctioned theft.

Read the full review here

Comments

Cici

Sat, Sep 25, 2010 : 7:20 a.m.

In no way do I consider "Gecko" an amaturish personality, even compared to Bernie Madoff. Gecko personified many wall street personalities even if maybe exagerated, but hopefully it exposed the common 'pump and dump' strategy in this movie that too many investors have still not learned. Typical of those who buy penny stocks from ads received in the mail or promoted on websites and chat rooms these days. I for one still consider this a great movie, even for today, and Michael Douglas did one fantastic performance personifying the financial system as many players and traders of today see it. Back then, day trading and strategic option playing by the common individual, even those retired and unemployed using retirement accounts, did not exist at the frenetic pace and level they are today. It is a gambling casino for the unskilled very often. The movie is STILL relevent....Gecko personifies insider trading, pump and dump, etc. by his "Greed is Good" philosophy of life - and that of today's frenetic players. The movie had nothing to do with real 'investing' for the long haul, which was the motive of those investing with a Bernie Madoff.