Wall Street

In Wall Street Michael Douglas perfectly embodies the Reagan-era credo that "greed is good" and won an Oscar for his efforts. As a Donald Trump-like Wall Street raider aptly named Gordon Gecko (for his reptilian ability to attack corporate targets and swallow them whole), Douglas found a role tailor-made to his skill in portraying heartless men who've sacrificed humanity to power. He's a slick, seductive role model for the young ambitious Wall Street broker played by Charlie Sheen, who falls into Gecko's sphere of influence and instantly succumbs to the allure of risky deals and generous payoffs. With such perks as a high-rise apartment and women who love men for their money, Charlie's like a worm on Gecko's hook, blind to the corporate manoeuvring that puts him at odds with his own father (played by Sheen's off-screen father, Martin). With his usual lack of subtlety, writer-director Oliver Stone drew from the brokering experience of his own father to tell this Faustian tale for the "me" decade but the film's sledgehammer style is undeniably effective. A cautionary warning that Stone delivers on highly entertaining terms, Wall Street grabs your attention while questioning the corrupted values of a system that worships profit at the cost of one's soul. --Jeff Shannon,

Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps

Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps has the compelling backdrop of the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression, features Michael Douglas returning to one of the defining roles of his career, stars two charismatic young actors (Shia LaBeouf, Transformers, and Carey Mulligan, An Education) and some wily old hands (Susan Sarandon, Frank Langella, and Eli Wallach)--so why is the movie such a dud? For one thing, director Oliver Stone doesn't bother to genuinely explore what caused the stock-market crash of 2008; instead, the movie's plot revolves around melodramatic backroom machinations and financial revenge, none of which has any real emotional heft. For another, Stone is possibly the most obvious director of all time. When the characters are talking about financial bubbles, the movie has shots of children in the park blowing bubbles; when the market crashes, the movie cuts to cascading dominoes--Stone beats every metaphor into submission, and if the audience feels bludgeoned at the same time, well, that's just too bad. Add to that portentous dialogue like "He's a monkey dancing on a razorblade," incoherent references to sub-prime mortgages and other financial technobabble, and a woefully mismatched soundtrack by David Byrne and Brian Eno, and the result is muddled, sluggish, and confusing. It's too bad; Douglas is as charmingly reptilian as ever. Also featuring a pointless cameo by Charlie Sheen, star of the original Wall Street. --Bret Fetzer,