Rated PG-13 for brief strong language and thematic elements.
Starring Michael Douglas and Shia LaBeouf
Directed by Oliver Stone
Money Never Sleeps…but I did.
Following a lengthy prison term, Gordon Gekko (Michael Douglas) finds himself on the outside looking in at a world he once commanded. Hoping to repair his relationship with his daughter, Winnie (Carey Mulligan), Gekko forges an alliance with her fiancé, Jake (Shia LaBeouf). But Winnie and Jake learn the hard way that Gekko is still a master manipulator who will stop at nothing to reclaim his rightful place at the top of Wall Street.
It’s been 23 years since Gordon Gekko declared “Greed is good” in Oliver Stone’s genre-defining Wall Street. It seemed like it was time for the sequel…or maybe not.
The original film glorified the overindulgence of the 80s, and this sequel takes a look at the hangover. Sure I got the point, but a decent plot would have been nice.
While no one’s going to accuse Charlie Sheen of being a great actor, at least he brought some swagger to the original film. But LaBeouf struggles in the serious role and struggles to look like an adult. As for Mulligan, her performance is lifeless and dull.
Speaking of dull, let’s talk about the story. Or maybe we shouldn’t, you might doze off on me.
Greed is not good…neither is this movie…I say Skip It.
SHOULD KIDS SEE IT?
This is a PG-13 film that covers a lot of adult themes while staying in the boundaries of the PG-13 world.
Conversation Starter
Three Simple Questions (with Answers You May Be Looking for):
Q: What’s the message/theme of this movie?
A: Like the original, Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps is a morality tale about how we as a culture view money.
In true Oliver Stone fashion, Gordon delivers a speech that questions the moneymaking methods of many investment banks and brokerage houses on Wall Street. Speaking to a group of college students, he tells them that 40% of all American companies’ profits the year before came from financial services that produced no actual product. How? By leveraging their debt to astronomical levels. Gordon labels these practices “systemic, malignant … like cancer.” Arguments can be made on all sides of our country’s financial practices, but that’s not really the point here. The point is this: Not only is greed apparently good, as Gordon quips, “now it seems it’s legal.” He also criticizes consumers who refinanced their homes to subsidize a materialistic lifestyle they ultimately couldn’t afford.
Q: How do you suppose we—as serious Christ-followers—should react to this movie?
A: I Timothy 6:6-10 tells us exactly how we should react to the message of this film. “A devout life does bring wealth, but it’s the rich simplicity of being yourself before God. Since we entered the world penniless and will leave it penniless, if we have bread on the table and shoes on our feet, that’s enough. But if it’s only money these leaders are after, they’ll self-destruct in no time. Lust for money brings trouble and nothing but trouble. Going down that path, some lose their footing in the faith completely and live to regret it bitterly ever after.”
Money is not bad. Some people do great things with their money; like donating to charities or relief efforts. But the love of money is very bad…the Bible calls it evil.
Setting goals for your life is a virtuous thing to do, but sacrificing friendships, your honor and integrity to achieve those goals is shameful.
Q: How can we move from healthy, Bible-based opinions about this movie to actually living out those opinions?
A: There are probably two answers to that question. First we need to evaluate our view of money. Do we love it? Do we have an unhealthy “relationship” with it?
Secondly, one of the best ways to defeat greed is to become generous. Find a church or charity in your community that could use your time and money and donate to it. As I write this we are just a few days from Christmas, what better way to celebrate Jesus’ birth then by finding a family who has been struggling and blessing them with a financial gift and/or presents for the children.
