Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps - The Capitious Critic

"Jump! You fuckers!" - Even though the photo of a piece of cardboard bearing this invitation - held up by a demonstrator on Wall Street in the height of the financial crunch - came to worldwide fame, only few bankers obliged. Oliver Stone, avowing leftist and Chavez/Castro/Morales sympathiser, turns this fantasy into reality in his sequel to the 1987 Wall Street. After the crisis-related suicide of his mentor Louis (Frank Langella), investment banker Jacob Moore (played uninspiringly by Shia LaBeouf) vows vengeance against those responsible - ruthless capitalists who accept thousands of redundancies to make a quick buck. He sabotages an important oil extraction deal, earning him the attention of the most important bank's CEO (Josh Brolin), who promptly offers him a job. At the same time, his girlfriend (Carey Mulligan) must cope with her father's release from jail - the legendary Gordon Gekko (still Michael Douglas), who seems to have made a U-turn and publically warns against financial cataclysm, all the while promoting his new book.

Given the films topicality and Stone's political views you would expect a feature film version of Michael Moore's outstanding Capitalism: A Love Story. Instead, in an attempt to portray the meaninglessness of Ducatis, Bvlgari rings, tailor-made suits and Manhattan lofts, the director gets carried away and involuntarily expresses a fascination for such earthly pleasures. To compensate for this consumerist porn, Stone repeatedly shows us children playing with soap bubbles - to convince even non-attentive viewers of the film's profundity and symbolism. A supporting act by Susan Sarandon and cameo by Charlie Sheen (no doubt a favour to his old friend Oliver) add little substance. Money Never Sleeps continues Stone's spell of mediocre films that has lasted for more than a decade. The fact that Stone's last award nomination dates back to 1995 and Nixon pretty much sums up the situation.