Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps

A fisherman always sees another fisherman from afar - is the latest dialog by the legend called Gordon Gekko.

Those who have seen the movie, Wall Street in 1987 could not have forgotten how Gordon Gekko became a Demi-God for most of the financial Yuppies and B-School grads immediately after the release of the movie. The way he dressed and presented himself made him a charismatic boardroom icon and a sole inspiration to the powerful market players and so called Wall Street wannabes. The role of Gordon Gekko not only did wonders at that time but also fetched Michael Douglas an Academy Award for Best Actor. And none of the audiences who watched that movie can forget his famous speech – GREED IS GOOD…

In my opinion, the 2010 sequel, Wall Street Money: Money Never Sleeps matches the standards and expectations set by Gordon Gekko in 1987.

Speaking about performance, Michael Douglas reprises his Godly character of Gordon Gekko with the same élan which he portrayed in the 1987 film. Look at the ruthlessness on his face and you will fall in love with him if you are anywhere closer to the markets. He handles the character superbly and portrays every scene as if he is a real trader, even if he has to trade his daughter’s photographs. His acting capabilities are at its peak when he confronts his daughter, so as to repair his broken relationship and turns himself as a mournful father even though he is driven by some malevolent ideas of becoming rich.

Louis Zabel head of Keller Zabel Investments, played by Frank Langella is one character which will hit you very hard. Look at Frank’s face expression which truly represents the tensions that could have been on the face of Richard Fuld who headed Lehman during its crash. I personally became a fan of him when he utters – “Good day, I am ok…bad day, I am ok. What’s the difference?” When the Fed refuses to bail out his company, his emotional meltdown is worth watching. And look at the calm and composed way of his self destruction when his companies’ stock price is valued at $3.00 a share and not a dime more, even though it’s actual price a week before the crash was at $74.00.

Not to forget, the evil spirits of the hedge fund manager Bretton James, played by J Brolin, who heads Churchill Schwartz, truly depicted what could have contributed towards bringing down the entire US economy. His character has the same depth and cunningness of what Gordon Gekko’s character had in the 1987 film. He truly represents the current financial biggies of Wall Street, who consider themselves too big to fail and then ultimately fail due to the felony they commit to derail the market by manipulating it.

Jacob Moore (Jake) played by Shia LaBeouf, was a perfect choice of the director. His chocolaty looks make him look a perfect lover boy and the way he transforms himself into an energy trader is simply awesome. To get into the skin of the character, Shia La-Beouf traded with different firms, playing with up to $1 million and became so interested in trading that he began studying for his Series 7 exam and later earned a broker license. A fact, which instantly makes him a Method Actor, isn’t it?

All other characters also do justice to their role, prominent among them are Winnie, played by Carrey Mulligan and Julie, a Federal Reserve Board Executive played by Eli Wallach, who considers the meltdown of 2008 to be more fatal than the 1929’s Great Depression in his unique whistling way…wishhhhhhhhhhh… Susan Sarandon’s character of being Jakes mother who turns herself from a real time nurse to a real estate broker garnishes the film only to reflect the dependencies of normal American Elders who still don’t believe in phasing out.

The movie truly belongs to two people, Michael Douglas and Oliver Stone (director). The presentation of the movie works great, especially when the director shows every minor details of the script with a new unforeseen style of presentation, like - S&P 500, NASDAQ and DJIA performance graphs are shown moving south corresponding to the background slope of a bridge or moving from a high altitude of the skyscrapers to the lower ones... I truly admire the director’s vision when he shows few children play in Central Park, NY playing around innocently and blowing bubbles using soap water and toys. One such bubble is shown rising, rising and again rising. Be smart to understand what the director wants to show with this BUBBLE...he he he...showcasing the technology & housing bubbles over the Wall Street in the recent past which normally get created by the innocent people, who don’t even know what’s actually going on. Extremely presentable-isn’t it?

While in the movie, Jake watches TV, where in Gordon Gekko is introduced & interviewed by a lady news anchor on a TV show, it did not take me more than few seconds to recognize the news anchor as Maria Bartiromo. In reality, she is an iconic figure in Global Financial Journalism. I have read so many articles covered by her on Bloomberg, Business-week, CNBC and Wall Street Journal. Seems the director, Oliver Stone left no stone unturned to bring a touch of reality to his movie…Hats off

When Louis Zabel (Frank Langella) tries to arrange a bailout for his company Keller Zabel, in a high profile meeting with leading bankers and Fed officials, he (Lou) addresses the speaker on intercom as Paul…Guess who is the director addressing here as Paul? Former US Treasury Secretary, Henry Paulson.

When Jake learns on TV that his mentor, Lou has committed suicide, as he could not save his company Jake is deeply grieved. This is the moment, when Jake proposes marriage to his girlfriend Winnie and it doesn’t look odd because it gives the audiences a feeling that he does so, to fulfill his mentors last wishes (before his death, Lou rewards Jake with a hefty bonus and wants Jake to marry Winnie). What an extremely emotional sequence which blends love with mentorship.

While Gordon Gekko has a brief encounter with Bud Fox (an employee of Gekko, who helps SEC officials to conduct a sting operation in 1987 movie, wherein Gekko is charged for Insider Trading) look at the face expression of Gekko when Bud places his hands on Gekko’s shoulders…he he he…Gekko gives him such a vindictive look yet finds himself helpless against Bud’s market growth…what an expression.

Gordon Gekko addresses, CDO’s (Collateralized Debt Obligation), CMO’s (Collateralized Mortgage Obligations) and ABS’s (Asset Backed Securities) as Weapons Of Mass Destruction…he he he…What a cynical yet realistic interpretation of modern financial risk mitigation instruments. Amazing…simply amazing. To make such a realistic remark, you really need to be an insider to the investment industry just like Oliver Stone, whose father, in reality used to be an investment broker.

Well, most of the people questioned me how Gordon Gekko becomes a Billionaire again in such a short span of time after stealing $100 Million from his daughter. Many of the audiences could not understand it and hence termed it extremely filmy. Well, the movie clearly shows that Gordon uses a hedging technique known as short selling and turns $100 Million capital in bear markets into billions of dollars. In a scene where Gekko watches the status of his financial strength in a spreadsheet, it is clearly shown how much he made using Long & Short exposures to the market. It’s only that people who don’t understand the financial jargons could not understand it. In reality, those who tracked the financial crisis of 2008 may know that due to many such occurrences, SEC had to ban short selling for a considerable amount of time. Quite insightful, isn’t it?

By far, Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps is the first movie, which explains Moral Hazard, a widespread buzz word during the bailout & TARP announcements. It’s a situation in which one person makes the decision about how much risk to take, while someone else bears the cost, if things go badly. Financial bail-outs can encourage risky lending in the future, if those that take the risks come to believe that they will not have to carry the full burden of losses and will be bailed out by the taxpayers / Govt. if things backfire.

The movie showcases how in reality, stocks are actually killed and markets are manipulated by few greedy players in order to survive the cut throat competition. It also vaguely explains that the first financial bubble dates back to 1600's when Dutch’s created it by selling Tulips at overly priced rate and found the markets collapsed by it. It is often referred to as “Tulip Mania”.

Dialogues of this movie are its high point. They instantly connect with the audiences and give you parabolic insights about how markets are driven.

Gordon Gekko – You are fucked…You all belong to the so called Ninja Generation who has no income, no job and no assets.

Gordon Gekko - Someone reminded me, I once said - Greed is good. Now it seems - it's legal...

Gordon Gekko - The mother of all evil is Speculation...

Gordon Gekko - They take all your money & call it easy "Bucks" and inject some steroids into it, only to call it Leverage Banking. Well, I call it Steroid Banking.

Gordon Gekko – Bulls make money; bears make money and pigs - only get slaughtered.

Gordon Gekko – You stop telling lies about me and I will stop telling truths about you.

Gordon Gekko - Money is a "she". She sleeps in bed with you with one eye open. Next thing you know, she might be gone forever. Money is a Bitch which never sleeps.

Gordon Gekko – This is ugly times ugly where ugly gets going. Let the world know that Gordon Gekko is back.

Gordon Gekko – See that’s what you people don’t get right. It was never about money. It's about the game.

Bretton James - When you don't know what you are doing, its fatal Mr. Moore.

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Jake - Hey Bretton, everyone has a number. What's your exact number to walk away?

Bretton - More...

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Gordon - It's easy to get in, hard to get out...

Jake - is that a threat?

Gordon - Absolutely

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Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps is one of the finest movies I have watched lately. It’s well researched and well presented. It only cements my fondness for Mr. Gekko, how so ever malevolent he might be in his mind and deeds. Seriously, I would love to see another sequel in this series... I would highly recommend this movie with a 5 Star Rating.