Review: ‘Wall Street’ Holds Up as the Quintessential Cautionary Tale of ‘80s Greed

“Wall Street,” released in 1987, is a wide reaching picture. It’s about ‘80s Wall Street, it’s about the ins and outs of being a successful stockbroker, it’s about greed. Its themes run deep, its acting is excellent, and its direction without error. The film takes place in New York City—in so many ways the financial and cultural capitol of America—and incorporates all the excitement and fervor of living the good life, no matter how high the cost. The film is directed by Oliver Stone; his attention to detail and storytelling, as well as perfectionism behind the camera, make for a stellar film that still remains as serious a cautionary tale in 2017 as it did 30 years ago.

The plot of “Wall Street” follows Bud Fox (Charlie Sheen), a young stockbroker impatient to make the big bucks. We see others in his firm such as Marvin (John C. McGinley), who’s comfortable where he is at and a pragmatist. He’d rather go to the Knick’s’ game with his friend and enjoy life rather than quest after landing the billionaire clients Fox dreams of. We also see another employee, Dan (Franklin Cover), who cautions Fox to get out of this racket while he still can. “I came in one day, I sat down…and look at me now,” he exclaims.

These two represent comfortability to Fox; but, to him, they live in a different world. Fox wants it all. He spends his nights in a dingy Manhattan apartment, his days grinding it out, but never failing to make his daily call to Gordon Gekko (Michael Douglas), a billion-dollar player. It isn’t long before Fox warms his way into Gekko’s good graces, leading him down a path to riches that may not be as straight and narrow as he hoped.

Where “Wall Street” excels is its storytelling and character development, its acting and script displayed with near perfection. Fox is shown to us as ambitious but yet cautious, Gekko powerful and ruthless. Gekko scoffs at the notion of hard work or luck. He’s into inside information, only bets on “sure things,” and wants Bud to help him get it. Fox make some early protestations, throwing around phrases like “that’s inside information” or “I could lose my license,” before ultimately giving in. The scene that shows this is a piece of great filmmaking, with thunder clapping outside, the lights dimming until all we see is Gekko’s face glowing in the darkness. If “Wall Street” is a morality tale, then Gordon Gekko is undoubtedly the devil.

Fox’s descent is all the more believable as he’s flushed against other characters such as a hardworking lawyer friend (James Spader), and his blue collar father Carl, played expertly by Sheen’s real life father Martin Sheen. The scenes between the two are well done and believable; we not only believe that these two are father and son during this film, but believe, acutely, that their conflict in values will come into play in greater ways as the film progresses. “Stop going for the easy buck and start producing something with your life,” his father cautions. “Create, instead of living off the buying and selling of others.”

What works about “Wall Street” is these characters are all likable, from Fox to Carl, to Gekko and Darien (Daryl Hannah), a well-to-do interior decorator that becomes a love interest for Bud. Every actor in the film owns their performance, none so astute as Douglas, who won an Oscar for “Best Acting in a Lead Role” for his portrayal of Gekko here. A large part of the credit for this belongs to Oliver Stone (who co-wrote the script with Stanley Weiser), who pushed his actors to the max. Douglas, who was more known at the time for being a television actor and producer, balks in behind the scenes documentaries at the length of some of the monologues, and remarks how Stone “pushed him” to be a better actor. His performance during the film’s keystone “greed is good” scene was so believable, in fact, that Charlie Sheen states “even I was buying it.”

The power of this scene of course works off of others just as powerful, such as heart-to-hearts Bud has with his father early on, and an explosive scene between the two in an elevator that is more than just a father/son fight— it’s the on-screen explosion of their entire value systems.

“Wall Street” is a stellar picture. With wide-sweeping morality, tight scriptwriting and acting, and a focused lens, the movie is both an anthem against greed and unrestrained capitalism, and a powerful family drama wrapped up in a classic rise and fall tale. A film that holds up over the ages, amidst copy cats (“Boiler Room”) and a sequel (“Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps”) that fail to capture the magic of the original. If you haven’t seen this film, do yourself a favor and watch this powerful masterpiece.