SummaryBud Fox has his sights set on conquering Wall Street. When legendary broker, Gordon Gekko, takes him under his wing, Fox figures he's on his way. But the road to success is paved with all sorts of corrupt acts that compromise his integrity and sense of self. Will he be able to get out before it's too late, that is, if Gekko will let hi...
SummaryBud Fox has his sights set on conquering Wall Street. When legendary broker, Gordon Gekko, takes him under his wing, Fox figures he's on his way. But the road to success is paved with all sorts of corrupt acts that compromise his integrity and sense of self. Will he be able to get out before it's too late, that is, if Gekko will let hi...
The world of Wall Street is that of a lush soap opera-"Dynasty" with a moral. It gets the barn burning, all right, but it has no impact. [11 Dec 1987, p.A]
Fantastic movie! The best photography of 80s aggressive business world. The only reason why it's a 9 and not a 10 for me is that you can easily see the ideological footprint of the director. Masterpieces have a deeper level of storytelling and if you can tell where the director stands on issues then it's not good. Also, Gekko makes the zero-sum game quote which is completely false and comes just from a misunderstanding of economics which a character like him should not have. That entire speech is technically speaking wrong and it's a weak defence for the vulture capitalist which has a very important role in society. Of course, Gekko is a financial criminal and there is no one in the movie who represents the vast majority of the financial professionals who are among the most diligent people in the world (if you think about it, they have all the savings of the world in their hands and still the scandals are extremely limited while other sectors people steal for much less). However, his speech at the shareholders annual meeting is accurate despite harsh, no wonder he won the vote in that instance!
Wall Street combines one of the most interesting and deepest villains ever in Gordon Gekko with an interesting and emotionally-charged plot as well as a great performance by Charlie Sheen to make one of my all-time favorite films.
Wall Street isn't a movie to make one think. It simply confirms what we all know we should think, while giving us a tantalizing, Sidney Sheldon-like peek into the boardrooms and bedrooms of the rich and powerful.
For all its hip, rat-a-tat dialogue and a sharp photographic look that give Wall Street a feeling that something exciting is happening, the movie's a bankrupt deal. [11 Dec 1987, p.E1]
The plot is a bit predictable nowadays but the theme is certainly still relevant and indeed I'm not at all surprised that a sequel film was made a few years ago (I haven't seen that yet). This is quite a watchable film and I felt Michael Douglas did particularly well portraying the obviously greed motivated 'bad guy', Gordon Gekko. I thought it was interesting seeing all the old technology and what-not, given the film dates from the 1980s - its clearly very dated - it couldn't not be! so that amused me a bit but, sadly, some peoples motivations hardly change, hence me saying the themes are still relevant.
I have to say, the sheer conept of Charlie Sheen having some (or any) link to morality seems a bit unlikely nowadays but there you go(!). Its an interesting film, not a bad one but its certainly dated and it undoubtedly has some cliches. I suppose if this film were made nowadays, viewers would expect more in the way of a shock value, such as the more graphic aspects of 'Wolf of Wall Street' etc. but personally I'm ok with the way it is. I also enjoyed noticing that one of Bud's colleagues was played by John V. McGinley, who is probably better known for playing the janitor in the US sitcom Scrubs. Overall, I'd recommend it as a fairly decent film of its type, with the caveat that it is visually quite dated and there are some cliches present but it doesn't take away from the main theme of corporate greed.
Un jeune courtier en bourse apprend toutes les ficelles du "métier" auprès d'un requin de la finance, parangon de cynisme et de voracité dont les méthodes sont sensiblement en marge de ce pourquoi le système a été conçu... Oliver Stone sait habilement démonter les rouages et dénoncer les pratiques de tels requins, caricatures ambulantes du capitalisme en haut-de-forme, sauf qu'ici Michael Douglas, admirable dans son rôle de salopard amoral porte des bretelles (oui, c'était ça les années 80... avec un peu de coke de temps à autre bien entendu).
Etonnamment, Charlie Sheen se défend très honorablement en tant que jeune premier un brin naïf qui prend vite goût aux joies de faire du fric pour... simplement faire du fric. Et ça, c'est tout un état d'esprit, une mentalité opaque pour le citoyen lambda qui se demandera pourquoi et comment, on en vient à payer -dans le film- des sommes folles pour des croûtes de l'art très con-temporain. Eh bien, tout simplement parce que ça coûte très cher et accessoirement bien sûr, pour la spéculation.
Le film est à rapprocher d'une certaine façon du récent Loup de Wall Street de Martin Scorsese, le temps de se rendre compte que rien n'a changé et que tout a empiré. De quoi devenir communiste, camarade ! même si les deux doctrines mènent en vérité au même résultat (après tout, Brejnev avait une collection de voitures de luxe hallucinante...).
Moins facétieux et plus sérieux, le film d'Oliver Stone est aussi plus moral (ou moins cynique en tout cas) que le brûlot souvent délirant de Scorsese, sans doute parce qu'il espère et croit encore un peu dans le système.
Cependant, sa mise en scène a beau être soignée et la distribution bien calée, son film est trop long et trop répétitif : pour les truqueurs de merde et leur blanchiment de fraude fiscale, de délits d'initié et de coulage de boîte et tout ça, il suffit juste de regarder les infos et les crises et cracks qui se succèdent. Comme le Loup de Wall Street, on s'interroge sur l'utilité de tels films qui ne font pas avancer le schmilblick et ne font que nous énerver un peu plus. Cela reste néanmoins intéressant et très édifiant mais à petite dose seulement.
oh yes, giving your life for a workplace / corporation is the greatest honor of every human being, defend it against speculators with your own breast and of course brokers are great people XD