Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps (a.k.a. Wall Street 2)

There’s just no consistency when it comes to reviews of this movie. I have friends who hated it, parents who loved it, and I just can’t decide. I think the topic that’s swaying people both ways was the movie’s portrayal of the actual Wall Street and the financial lingo that went along with it. I’m no good with numbers. I got a C in Accounting. But I’m fine with that and Hollywood should be as well. What I don’t understand is why, in the movie, they even made a joke about how NO ONE knows what half of the jargon means. Isn’t that a clue that the rest of us won’t know either?

 

I still really enjoyed watching the movie. The star-studded cast pleased my eyes which included everyone from Michael Douglas, Josh Brolin, and Shia LaBeouf to newcomer Carey Mulligan and Eli Wallach (the cute old man from The Holiday who explains the meaning of gumption). The plot of the movie actually mimicked the stock market crash of 2008. It was interesting and yet sad to see how the downfall of our economy happened and how it affected so many people in different ways: a suicide, a hostile takeover, lies, tears, and even reconnections with loved ones. Carey Mulligan was mainly responsible for the tears; I don’t think there was a scene in the whole movie where her eyes didn’t well up. The crazy talk of bubbles and moral hazard really did set the themes for the movie and yet, I couldn’t explain to you what a bubble is. Like I said, I enjoyed watching the movie but the analysis part isn’t really an easy homework project for me.

 

Things I will take away from this movie:

• Josh Brolin is a great actor and an even better villain.
• NINJA Generation = No Income, No Job, No Assets
• Never trust someone whose motto used to be “Greed Is Good”.
• The rumor mill within the financial world can be 1000X more detrimental than middle school.
• When Eli Wallach whistles, he’s trying to tell us the apocalypse is coming (though I’m still not sure why).
• Breaking one big story on a blog can gain you fame and fortune, though usually you’re not working for a non-profit blog for that purpose.

 

Spend or Save? Spend…but only because I foresee myself wanting to watch this again to really understand what it meant.