Cannes 2010: 'Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps'

More than 20 years after cutthroat corporate raider Gordon Gekko became a hero to Wall Street stock brokers, Michael Douglas and Oliver Stone revive the character amid financial meltdown. Out of prison and peddling a book that argues that greed isn't in fact good, Gekko appears to be a changed man. He is, however, estranged from his daughter Winnie (Carey Mulligan) and still hurting over his son Rudy's death. Gekko eyes the road to redemption through Jacob Moore (Shia LaBeouf) a young broker engaged to Winnie and looking to get revenge on Josh Brolin's Wall Street don Bretton James, the man responsible for Gekko's demise.

Money Never Sleeps's wheels turn mainly on a bit of self-referential nudge-winking and a lot of melodrama. Like its predecessor it gets bogged down in financial speak and corporate wheeler-dealing that loads up the plot, yet Douglas is on fine form reprising his career-defining role. You're never quite sure if he can be trusted, and Stone has fun playing with the cult of Gekko by setting him up as a minor celebrity who seems to have seen the light. For this Gekko - and as the movie preaches - greed is a disease. Anchoring the story is Shia LaBeouf, an able stand in for Charlie Sheen (who appears in a small but effective cameo as a made-good Bud Fox), while senior pros Frank Langella and Susan Sarandon offer good support.

There's plot U-turns and boardroom double crosses aplenty here, but the sequel works best in its character interplay and the mentor/protégé relationships that emerge between LaBeouf, Douglas and Brolin. It's often overly forceful with its sentiments and idealism, and the David Byrne/Brian Eno soundtrack lands awkwardly to hammer home emotional punches, but this is an enjoyable 'tribute act' version of the original and a relevant mainstream drama that sits comfortably at Cannes.



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