Someone reminded me of what I once said that, “Greed is Good”
Money Never Sleeps wrapped up the recession of our recent times, with the collapse of a trusted, mammoth investment bank. There were many instances with the release of Gordon from his jail sentence, where his second career as a writer/sought after speaker brought about opportunities for the character to serve as a sense of caution in today’s world.
The new protagonist in the film is Jake Moore, played by Shia LaBeouf, who’s very much into alternative energy markets and has a hand in the investment and development of one such nuclear fusion farm. Unfortunately the investment bank he works in collapses causing the demise of his much respected mentor Louis Zabel (Frank Langella), Jake swears revenge against Josh Brolin’s Bretton James, another banker in a rival firm for reasons you have to watch the movie for to understand.
Gordon Gekko (Michael Douglas) enters the picture because of Jake’s fiancé Winnie (Carey Mulligan), Gekko’s daughter, and through a potential in-law relation, both men who see so much similarities in each other, especially the older in the younger’s fire in the belly, forge a trade of sorts where Gekko provides much needed inside research and knowledge to Jake in exchange for opportunities in a bid to patch up his relationship with his estranged daughter.
In Star Wars terms, its very easy to be tempted to the dark side of the force, and that is how Gordon Gecko’s character plays out. The movie was very well shot making full use of New York’s picturesque buildings, lights and people. Shia Labeouf gave a decent performance, something different than what he usually does. I felt Carey Mulligan was under used and all the scenes she was in had pretty good strong dialogues, especially the conversation with Gordon Gecko which was pretty emotional and which actually brought out her best acting skills in the movie.
Josh Brolin was phenomenal as the bad guy who is filled with ambitions and very suave with it. He knows exactly how the system works, exploiting it in such a manner making him look like the good guy in most cases. But the star I still think is Michael Douglas as Gordon Gecko. He had the best dialogues which were mostly short but very very strong and the way he says them with his style just like the first movie and it was really amazing to watch a good actor deliver his lines with such finesse that he deserves some sort of recognition. All the scenes where he was there, would easily be the best scenes in the movie.
For a fictional film it’s rather insightful in its ability to bring forth real issues and ideas to the mass market. If you want to watch good drama that is interesting and based on reality, then this is the movie to watch this weekend.
[rating:8/10]
