Remember when city dealers were sexy? Back in the 1980s, a surprising number of morons thought that shouting aggressively into huge mobile phones was just as glamorous as playing guitar with, erm, the Psychedelic Furs. Ironically, that old radical Oliver Stone was largely responsible for this unlikely turn of events.
Two decades later, the director of Wall Street tries to make amends with a more sober, less accidentally dubious examination of the current financial meltdowns. The result is a glossy, well-acted slab of superior financial soap opera. Though less sickeningly hysterical than Stone’s most annoying films, Money Never Sleeps still finds time to fit in the odd motorbike ride, speeding helicopter and fulminating evil mogul. Unfortunately, given that we now all hate the financiers’ collective guts, the film doesn’t offer the same guilty frissons as the first episode. Mind you, that could be a good thing.
Money Never Sleeps kicks off with that great scene you’ve seen a dozen times in the trailer. Michael Douglas’s Gordon Gekko emerges from prison and is reunited with an empty money clip and a mobile phone the size of Iceland. It seems that he is a reasonably reformed man. He tries to make friends with his weedy daughter, an eco-something played by Carey Mulligan, and cosies up to her equally green boyfriend, Shia LaBoeuf. Meanwhile, a financier even more evil than the old Gekko – it’s Josh Brolin, of course – is hatching some really complicated plan to grab all the money in the world. Eventually, Gekko reveals his old colours and begins tucking into the pie.
The financial stuff is far too boring to bother explaining (even if we were able). The personal interactions are sketched out in crayon: some people are good all the time; some people are bad all the time; others are good then bad then good again. But you can’t deny that it’s pleasing to see old Dougo back sucking on he cigar and slicking back the hair. It takes a while for Classic Gekko to emerge, but when he eases into demonic mode, it’s like welcoming a beloved old enemy back within your parlour.