Money never sleeps… yawn….

First, for those who don’t know me well, you must be made aware as to the cult status the original 1987 Oscar award winning Oliver Stone directed Wall Street has in my life. I think the instant connection happened when in one of the opening scenes Bud Fox’s (played by Charlie Sheen) computer flashes that it is Gordon Gekko’s (Michael Douglas of course) birthday – same day as mine. I’m a sucker for karmic coincidences and ever since then, have followed a ritual of watching the film on my birthday. Of course, in the recent past, it just kind of plays in the background. But that’s also because I know the film in and out, every scene, every dialogue. 

This film is why I read Art of War again and again. It is why I love steak tartare. Why in my previous avatar as a corporate don I would  summon employees at unearthly hours and ask them to spring back to work. All because – Money never sleeps!

So a reunion with my celluloid mentor, the original anti-hero, Mr. Wall Street himself Gordon Gekko, in the sequel that lit up at marquees this weekend, seemed emotional. 

Okay, let me qualify that. I was emotional. After all, it is like witnessing an unexpected resurrection. There was that. But there was also emotion of another kind, a small sadness, if you like. To see the mighty lion who roared in his den, reduced to a man nothing short of coping with an addiction he once had and is now desperately trying to disguise, revive… makes you want to shake your head and say this is not the way GG… this is not the way.

But that’s me. Let’s talk about the film.

In three words – It is good. In more words – worth a watch, especially if you are a banker, an investor, a person who needs a crash course on Wall Street 101 and why the mighty economic collapse of 2008 happened as and when it did.

The film has a story line that works in most parts. My dips were with Shia LeBouef’s character Jacob Lawrence, the young protagonist and his portrayal of today’s generation that balances profit with purpose – he wants to make money but also save the planet – like that’s possible??! I also had a tough time wrapping around GG’s reckless discarding of his daughter’s sentiment. But I guess that’s also the story’s message – once an addict, always an addict.

My cynical switch went on when I watched the story preach the hazards of modern day retail capitalism with its peddler being the government while financial institutions are the pimps. Yawn. Yawn. Yawn. Old hat. We know all of this has indeed happened, and therefore is a fact. But I think living in the era we do, information overload results in done-to-death dissection of situations in real-time. So when a film reflects in hind sight, it just comes off as a drunken drawl in a seedy bar.

Comparisons are inevitable which is why for me, the original Wall Street had an edge over its successor. It was edgy fiction that went on to become prophetic fact in 1987. The sequel tries to rebuild Gekko as the same witty, street-slang-using dark knight but he comes off more like Yoda preaching to Luke Sky Walker.

Bottom line - 

• Greed is good, but now it’s also legal
• The new generation is the NINJA generation – No Income, No Jobs & Assets
• Everyone has a number – the amount of money they’d say is enough. The right number is MORE.
• And finally, Bud Fox got it right. He turned Blue Star Airlines into private jet brokerage outfit and sold it at a very high valuation. Now he sips martinis, has twice the Darryl Hannahs on his arms and indulges in ‘philanthropy’.

Do yourself a favor. Rent the original Wall Street. Watch it. Savor it. And then watch what life becomes in its sequel.

MA