Now out of prison but still disgraced by his peers, Gordon Gekko works his future son-in-law, an idealistic stock broker, when he sees an opportunity to take down a Wall Street enemy and reb... Read allNow out of prison but still disgraced by his peers, Gordon Gekko works his future son-in-law, an idealistic stock broker, when he sees an opportunity to take down a Wall Street enemy and rebuild his empire.Now out of prison but still disgraced by his peers, Gordon Gekko works his future son-in-law, an idealistic stock broker, when he sees an opportunity to take down a Wall Street enemy and rebuild his empire.
- Awards
- 1 win & 4 nominations
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaIn preparation for his role, Shia LaBeouf worked extensively with traders and researchers on the world of finance and economy. He even invested $20,000 and ended up making more than $400,000. A few people who trained him were later arrested for illegal acts of trading.
- GoofsWhen Jake Gives a bottle of Johnny Walker Blue Label to the Chinese investor, he says: "This is for you - American Whisky." Johnny Walker is and always has been Scottish.
- Quotes
Gordon Gekko: Payback. Except I'm not in that business anymore - because the one thing I learned in jail is that money is not the prime asset in life. Time is.
- Alternate versionsThere are two versions, the theatrical release, and the one presented at Cannes for the film's debut. The runtimes are, respectively: "2h 13m (133 min)" and "2h 16m (136 min) (Cannes)".
- ConnectionsEdited from The Bourne Identity (2002)
- SoundtracksBeatin' Down the Block
Written by Ali Dee (as Ali Theodore), Julian Davis, Robert Miller, Joe Smart and Yusef Jackson
Performed by Basko feat. Nomadik & Chris Classic (as Classic)
Courtesy of DeeTown Entertainment
It's a shame then, that the Platoon director is too caught up in decorating the absorbing content with unnecessary visual flair. Whether it's to appease the MTV generation or simply because the 64 y.o. filmmaker is becoming more compromising in his methods, the TV-style scene separators that Stone employs – a whirring 24 hours in 30 secs landscape shot, digital financial figures weaving through the city – are completely unwelcome. Then there is the motorbike race at the end of the second act. How this dreadfully misplaced sequence didn't get excised in the editing suite is mind-boggling. These little hiccups tot up over the runtime and get increasingly frustrating, becoming a major detriment to this otherwise decent movie.
The return of Michael Douglas to the role that garnered him an Oscar over two decades ago was always going to gain the majority of anticipation and he doesn't disappoint. He portrays the supposedly penitent Gekko as a man who is just as self-aggrandizing as he was 23 years ago, but with the newfound characteristic of subtlety, if not humility. Having said that, it's Shia LeBeouf who makes the greatest impact. The Transformers star has already demonstrated he's a genuine acting talent in the lesser seen A Guide to Recognising Your Saints and The Greatest Game Ever Played, although this is his first shot at a mainstream drama. LeBeouf's natural charisma is challenged by a vulnerable side we've not seen in any of his previous roles and it's a leap he handles with ease. He may yet be one of those rare actors who can effectively segue between huge movie star and terrific thespian.
The eminently watchable cast and captivating subject matter guarantees cinematic satisfaction, even if its dampened by Stone's persistently needless visual flourishes.
3 out of 5 (1 - Rubbish, 2 - Ordinary, 3 - Good, 4 - Excellent, 5 - Classic)
- Troy_Campbell
- Sep 24, 2010
Details
- Release date
- Country of origin
- Official sites
- Language
- Also known as
- Wall Street 2
- Filming locations
- 1 State Street Plaza, New York City, New York, USA(interior: Gordon Gekko's London office)
- Production companies
- See more company credits at IMDbPro
Box office
- Budget
- $70,000,000 (estimated)
- Gross US & Canada
- $52,474,616
- Opening weekend US & Canada
- $19,011,188
- Sep 26, 2010
- Gross worldwide
- $134,748,021
- Runtime2 hours 13 minutes
- Color
- Sound mix
- Aspect ratio
- 2.39 : 1