Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps is a 2010 American drama film directed by Oliver Stone and written by Allan Loeb and Stephen Schiff. It is a sequel to Stone's 1987 film Wall Street, and stars Michael Douglas, Shia LaBeouf, Josh Brolin, Carey Mulligan, Frank Langella, Susan Sarandon, and Eli Wallach in his final film role. The film takes place in New York City, 23 years after the original, and revolves around the Great Financial Crisis in 2008.
The film follows Jake Moore (LaBeouf), a young trader who is dating Winnie Gekko (Mulligan), the daughter of Gordon Gekko (Douglas), a disgraced former Wall Street corporate raider. Jake ends up caught in the middle of a power struggle between Bretton James (Brolin) and Gekko, who is trying to make a comeback.
Gekko convinces Jake to help him take down James, and in the process, Jake learns more about the corrupt world of Wall Street.
In the end, Jake is able to expose James's corruption. Working with Gekko, they are able to turn the tables on him, the individual who was behind Gekko's extended prison sentence.
This is considered one of the best films about the 2008 financial crisis. It captures how Wall Street banks and financial institutions ignored the warning signs that were evident. This also portrays how average individuals such as Jake's mother (played by Sarandon) were caught up in the easy profits that came from the bubble in the real estate market.
Stone also highlighted the dangers that mortgage backed securities (MBS) has on the system. Since the risk associated with the mortgages being written were passed on to investors, the thirst for them only increased. These financial instruments took the loans, package them, and sold them off as low risk investments.
Cast
- Michael Douglas as Gordon Gekko
- Shia LaBeouf as Jacob "Jake" Moore
- Josh Brolin as Bretton James
- Carey Mulligan as Winnie Gekko
- Susan Sarandon as Sylvia Moore
- Eli Wallach as Julius "Julie" Steinhardt
- Frank Langella as Louis "Lou" Zabel
- Austin Pendleton as Dr. Masters
- Sylvia Miles as Dolores, The Realtor
- Vanessa Ferlito as Audrey
- John Buffalo Mailer as Robby
- Jason Clarke as New York Fed Chief
- Oliver Stone as Investor
- Charlie Sheen as Bud "Buddy" Fox
- Anthony Scaramucci as himself
- Maria Bartiromo as herself, Newscaster Cameo
- Becky Quick as herself, Squawk Box Host Cameo
- Jim Cramer as Cameo Appearance
- Ali Velshi as Cameo Appearance
- Waltrudis Buck as Annica
Director: Oliver Stone
Writers: Allan Loeb | Stephen Schiff | Stanley Weiser
Box Office Gross: $134,748,021
Distributor: Twentieth Century Fox
Genre: Drama
Release Date: September 22, 2010