Is Oliver Stone's New Wall Street Movie Worth the Price of a Sitter?

REVIEW

Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps
This title does not fit the story.
Twentieth Century Fox 
They spent $50 million on this sequel to the 1987 classic, Wall Street.
2 hours 16 minutes 
Way too long!
PG for strong language 
And you need to know at least some financial jargon or a little bit about the 2008 crash.
Stars Michael Douglas 
He isn't in the film enough.
Written by Stephen Schiff and Stanley Weiser & Allan Loeb 
Two writers who are not fluent in finance and a stock broker who can't write.
Directed by Oliver Stone 
In 2007 he wasn't interested in directing the movie, but after the 2008 crash he changed his mind, a big mistake.

My rating $$ out of $$$$$

It's probably not fair to the producers that I went to the movie hoping for two things: one, that I would be entertained by an enthralling story and powerful characters; two, that I would improve my financial literacy a little bit by learning something new about high finance and the workings of Wall Street. Well...as the Beach Boys sang, "Help me, Rhonda! Help, help me, Rhonda!" It was a grueling 133 minutes of my life that I'm never getting back again. Never mind the waste of money.

Which got me wondering, how much did Twentieth Century Fox spend making this film? The final total: $50 million. That's not expensive as movies go and I suppose one could argue that it was money well spent as it employed hundreds of actors and production folk for a couple of years. But is the film worth spending your money on: $75+ for two tickets, snacks, gas, parking plus three hours of babysitting?

No way. Save your cash. Wait until it comes out on video. If you're hungry to see bankers freak out during the 2008 Wall Street crash, you can watch the Meltdown documentary series on CBC (see my reviews below). Put that extra $75+ in your savings account and move on.

On a side note, if you haven't already, rent the original Wall Street movie and watch it with your teens. It's meets my requirements of being both educational and entertaining, a $$$$ out of $$$$$.


Copyright 2010. Laura Thomas. All Rights Reserved.
To reprint contact Laura at money@agentstory.net