Wall Street (1987)

A young and impatient stockbroker is willing to do anything to get to the top, including trading on illegal inside information taken through a ruthless and greedy corporate raider who takes the youth under his wing.

Director:

Oliver Stone

Writers:

Stanley Weiser, Oliver Stone

Stars:

Charlie Sheen, Tamara Tunie, Franklin Cover

Won 1 Oscar. Another 9 wins & 3 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Charlie Sheen	...	Bud Fox
Tamara Tunie	...	Carolyn
Franklin Cover	...	Dan
Chuck Pfeiffer	...	Chuckie (as Chuck Pfeifer)
John C. McGinley	...	Marvin
Hal Holbrook	...	Lou Mannheim
James Karen	...	Lynch
Leslie Lyles	...	Natalie
Michael Douglas	...	Gordon Gekko
Faith Geer	...	Natalie's Assistant
Frank Adonis	...	Charlie
John Capodice	...	Dominick
Martin Sheen	...	Carl Fox
Suzen Murakoshi	...	Girl in Bed
Dani Klein	...	Receptionist

Storyline

Bud Fox is a Wall Street stockbroker in early 1980's New York with a strong desire to get to the top. Working for his firm during the day, he spends his spare time working an on angle with the high-powered, extremely successful (but ruthless and greedy) broker Gordon Gekko. Fox finally meets with Gekko, who takes the youth under his wing and explains his philosophy that "Greed is Good". Taking the advice and working closely with Gekko, Fox soon finds himself swept into a world of "yuppies", shady business deals, the "good life", fast money, and fast women; something which is at odds with his family including his estranged father and the blue-collared way Fox was brought up.

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Plot Keywords:

greed | stock | 1980s | money | business | 

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Taglines:

Every dream has a price.

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Genres:

Crime | Drama

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Certificate:

R

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

11 December 1987 (USA)

Also Known As:

Borsa

Filming Locations:

The St. James's tower, 415 East 54th Street, Manhattan, New York City, New York, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$15,000,000 (estimated)

Gross:

$43,848,100 (USA)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation, American Entertainment Partners L.P., Amercent Films

Technical Specs

Runtime:

126 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Oliver Stone had been talking extensively to Burt Lancaster about taking a role in the film but the timings simply didn't work out. Shortly after, Lancaster suffered an incapacitating heart attack.

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Goofs

After Bud's initial meeting in Gekko's office and Gekko asks, "You got a card?", the camera crew can be seen reflecting in the door behind.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Businesswoman #1: [a crowd of businessmen stampede into an elevator] Excuse me.
Businessman #1: Easy!
Businesswoman #2: Excuse me!
Businessman #2: Thank you.
Businesswomen #3: Sorry!
Businessman #3: Easy!
Businessman #4: Easy!

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Connections

Referenced in Hot Shots! Part Deux (1993)

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Soundtracks

"RIGOLETTO"
Original Music and Text by Giuseppe Verdi
Performed by Callas Gobra De Steffano and Orchestra E Coro Dee Teatro alla Scala De Monaco
Conducted by Tollo Serafino
Courtesy of Angel EMI Records

User Reviews

This is Douglas's movie until the Sheens take it over.

First of all, it's amazing now to see how young, baby-faced and gauche Charlie Sheen looks from this distance in time, particularly when he's trying to hit on Daryl Hannah.

In today's dumbed down movie world, Gordon Gekko could have been scripted and played exactly the same except for one thing: you'd never see the scene when he suddenly stops to admire the ocean at dawn. Fortunately Michael Douglas clearly added his own dimensions to the character whom, if left to Stone, would have been a cardboard money-grabber. As far as Stone is concerned Gekko wants money for its own sake, but Michael Douglas manages to evince a man who revels in the power and influence that money gets him. Stone's dialogue actually undercuts this perception on occasion, as when Bud Fox yells at Gekko, "How many yachts can you sail!?", and when Gekko, enticing Fox by outlining how rich he could be, says, "Rich enough to have your own jet" - as if owning a jet wasn't the minimum accoutrement you'd expect from the least successful company director or minor pop star. Other infelicities in the script include the moment when Stone wanted to signal that Bud Fox has reached the peak of success and found it empty: following the montage of the condo purchase and decoration, the perfect meal for two, culminating in making love to Daryl Hannah, Stone has Fox standing on his balcony, and apropos of nothing at all, he just says, "Who am I?" It has to be said that Sheen wasn't really up to the task of delivering this atrocious line.

I've rarely seen a film in which the female lead was so comprehensively abandoned by the director. Stone clearly wanted to focus all his attention on Sheen and crucially on Douglas, leaving Hannah floundering and unable to clearly express just how much into Bud Fox her character is at any one time. At the final break-up you almost hear Stone's sigh of relief at being able to get rid of the irrelevant female (probably forced on him by the studio) and concentrate on the man's world of stockbroking.

I seem to be finding a lot of flaws in what is basically a most compelling and watchable film. Despite the complex jargon-riddled technicalities of the subject matter, the movie's plot grabs hold of the viewer from the first scene and never lets go. Of course Douglas dominates most of the movie, until Fox sr. (Sheen sr.) throws the spanner in the works of his son's airline deal. Thank heavens Charlie Sheen took the unbelievably courageous decision to have his own father (instead of Jack Lemmon) play his character's father because the two of them perform an absolute barnstormer of a scene in which every word, inflexion and facial expression is repleat with absolute truth; and it's all the more poignant considering Charlie Sheen's own personal difficulties which faced him in later years, and the well-publicised ups and downs of his relationship with Martin as a result. Had those troubled times preceded this movie, it's hard to imagine the performances could have been any different - that's how good they are.

Fantastic character support comes from Hal Holbrook, the always reliable Saul Rubinek and John C. McGinley (who does not seem to have changed at all in the intervening years!), a young James Spader and the magisterial Terence Stamp who understands the unutterable menace with which it is possible to lace the single word "Mate".