Cannes Critical Consensus: ‘Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps’

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Oliver Stone’s “Wall Street” sequel may share some thematic ideas with “Robin Hood,” particularly when it comes to money and power, but the two Cannes Film Festival premieres are attracting mostly different (but still very mixed) notices.

While many critics were less than impressed with director Ridley Scott’s reimagining of Sherwood Forest, a few reviewers are treating Stone and star Michael Douglas’ update of Gordon Gekko, which had its first festival screening Friday morning, a bit more kindly. Opening Sept. 24, the sequel comes more than two decades after the first film. The long lag between the movies, some critics say, cuts both ways.

Here’s a summary of prominent critics’ notices:

Owen Gleiberman, Entertainment Weekly: “Like the original ‘Wall Street,’ it’s a darkly exciting steel-and-glass vision of piranhas in the water, of ruthlessly wealthy, nattily dressed men doing whatever it takes to make themselves wealthier. Stone, working from a screenplay by Allan Loeb and Stephen Schiff, conjures that same breathless atmosphere of dramatic liquidity, of a plot that hurtles along at the speed of information.”

Kirk Honeycutt, The Hollywood Reporter: “...’Money Never Sleeps’ is that rare sequel that took its time -- 23 years -- so it not only advances a story but also has something new to say. The film overheats now and then but blame this on filmmaking passion. One senses a fully engaged filmmaker at the helm, driving the movie at a lightning pace as if in a hurry to get to the next scene or next aphorism that further illuminates this dark world.”

Michael Phillips, The Chicago Tribune: “Weirdly -- and this may hurt the film’s chances this fall -- ‘Wall Street 2’ goes soft on its main reason for existing. It would’ve been dull seeing the same old Gekko, to be sure. But his matchmaking duties this time out, however shadowy, defang the man. And wouldn’t this character at least betray a teensy bit of envy for all millions made by the hedge-fund wizards who came up after him? That’s the irony: So many legally sanctioned Wall Street gamblers made their hay after buying, wholesale, the glamorously unscrupulous image put forth by the original “Wall Street.”

Kate Muir, The Times of London: “I wonder how this will play with a generation that has not seen the original, and whether the drama works without all the comic references to the past, when mobile phones were huge white bricks with aerials. But ‘Wall Street 2’ gets four stars for old time’s sake — and for its music by David Byrne and Brian Eno, an appropriately retro choice.”

Peter Bradshaw, The Guardian: “...despite the pious waffle about market craziness being like cancer, no one is ever shown enduring the actual misery of losing money. Everyone gets rich, well, everyone except Jake’s (Shia LaBeouf) chuckle-headed estate-agent mom, played by Susan Sarandon, and she gets to go back to her morally pure low-paid job of nursing, the kind of unsexy altruism which is exclusively appropriate for the womenfolk. Money looks like it’s dozing a little here: my advice is “sell”.

David Gritten, The Daily Telegraph: “The film’s emotional relationships feel awkward and forced. Carey Mulligan does her best in the role of Winnie, who is meant to be pivotal – the battleground between Gekko and Jacob. But she’s essentially a liberal cipher, and somewhat passive. (This is, of course, primarily a film for and about men.) LaBeouf is just about old enough to play a smart young trader, and does so efficiently, if not particularly interestingly. “

Todd McCarthy, IndieWire: “...the new film initially takes good and opportunistic advantage of contemporary financial woes to detail the malfeasance of bankers and traders. But the script feels like a pasted-together hodgepodge of elements that co-exist without credibly blending together, topped by a climax that feels particularly hokey in its effort to leave audiences comfortable rather than disturbed by what they’ve just seen.”

-- John Horn

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