Friday, August 14, 2009

WALL STREET (1987)

“Greed is good.”
“Every battle is won before it’s ever fought.”
“Public throws darts at a board, I bet on sure things.”
“Smart earned money is better than sex.”
“Don’t get emotional about stock. It clouds the judgment.”
“Money itself isn’t lost or made; it’s simply transferred from one perception to another, like magic.”
“All warfare is based on deception. If your enemy is superior, evade him. If angry, irritate him. If equally matched, fight. And if not, split, Reevaluate.”

I simply can’t resist quoting some wonderful lines uttered by Gordon Gekko (played by Michael Douglas) the elephant broker of Wall Street who loves quoting lines of Sun Tzu, the writer of ‘The Art of War’. My two thumbs up for Michael Douglas who gave completely mind blowing performance as Gekko for which he won Best Actor Oscar Award. Watch his ‘Greed is Good’ speech from You Tube and you know he truly deserved the Academy honour. Charlie Sheen more looks like a young Tom Cruise. He also shared screen with his real and reel life father Martin Sheen in this film and the natural chemistry strikes the chord perfectly.

Writer, Director Oliver Stone’s comes with the insider story of stock market. This morality tale set on Wall Street targets the value system that places profit above any other things. How an ambitious young man, Bud Fox (Charlie Sheen) learns hard truths about life in his zest to earn quick money. He’s conflicted figure dangling between two extremes- his airline working class father who believes in hard earned money and a millionaire broker with no limits to his greed or willingness to bend principles to earn money. Ultimately he realizes that the price of success is harder than he expects. Money is the biggest illusion that mankind has ever created.

So ultimately the bottom-line of the film is the piece of advice comes from the boss of Bud Fox played by Hal Holbrook- “Remember there are no shortcuts, son. Quick bucks artists come and go with every bull market. The steady players make it through the bear market….The main thing about the money, Bud…It makes you do things you don’t wanna do.”

Must watch for everyone who’s heading in investment their hard earned money to get quick returns from free market.

Ratings- 9/10

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