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Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps Movie Review
Grade: C-
In a decade where franchise reboots are of the norm, Oliver Stone brings back his eighties dog-eat-dog film in a perfect time corresponding with present-day economic turmoil. With his sequel Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps, Stone delivers a solid and entertaining film, even though it is not quite sure which direction it wants to take.
Money Never Sleeps is set two decades after the original film, where hotshot stock investor Gordon Grekko (Michael Douglas) has been just released from prison. Instead of the villainous character Douglass portrayed in the original, Grekko decides to try to reestablish his relationship with his scornful daughter Winnie (Carey Mulligan). Winnie’s fiance, Jacob Moore (Shia Lebouf), is a corporate trader who works for an investment bank that soon fails. After his mentor dies, Moore attempts to take revenge and takes on Gorden Grekko as his mentor.
Stone’s film is driven by its witty dialogue and interesting plot twists. The dialogue is essentially what this film has to offer, as it is extremely talky, which is not at all bad. This is actually the positive aspect of the movie, because the final product is an intriguing but ineffective look at the economic crisis done in a much theatrical manner. The communication between the characters create the anger, the melodrama, and most importantly, moves the film forward. If you do not mind some intellectual thought about economics, Wall Street 2 is never uninteresting.
Although Wall Street 2 strives in its dialogue, it is overly unorganized . Stone tries to stylize the movies as if it was Fight Club, when the movie would have been more emotionally effective if it shot in a raw fashion. But the biggest flaw of the movie is that there are way too many subplots, there is no focus. Is the movie about Grekko making right with his daughter? Labeouf’s revenge of his mentor? Or the love story between Mulligan and Lebouf? The film certainly does not know what to focus on which makes Money Never Sleeps obviously unorganized. Each of the subplots have unsatisfying endings. While these subplots are still interesting and entertaining, it feels as if the film did not have enough time to address all of the conflicts between the characters.
Money Never Sleeps is a good film, but that is all what it is. It had the potential to be thoughtful theatrical commentary on our current economic crisis, but its messiness just makes it seem as if it was a compressed miniseries. The film’s dialogue makes it highly intriguing, but it just is not enough to make Money Never Sleeps anything more than entertainment. Grade: C-
Never Let Me Go Movie Review
Grade: A-
SPOILER: There is supposedly a “spoiler” that many are displeased when reading about. I do not know why because it’s revealed 15 minutes into the story. So this is the warning.
Creating a haunting yet provocative science fiction piece of art, director Mark Romenek creates a film that will consume its audience with heartbreak and despair. Never Let Me Go is a film adaptation of Kazuo Ishiguro’s novel that serves as a quasi-controversial protest on the concept of cloning and stem cell research, essentially conveying the value of any life. In Ishiguro’s alternate universe, medical breakthroughs have been made to increase the lifespan of individuals through harvesting the vital organs of clones. Never Let Me Go depicts the life of three young donors that are ever permeated by their fate, creating insight if mankind were to pursue such technology. Romenek’s film is one that will be emotionally embraced and will move its audiences in many directions, even if it is slightly flawed.
Never Let Me Go is best approached with little information of the sequential plot in Ishiguro’s novel. With that said, fans of the novel will still indeed find value in this adaptation but the emotions of the film, which rely on heavy emotional events, will surely be lost without the art of surprise and suspense. In trying to simplify the premise, the film follows the life of three students deriving from Hailshaim school. Kathy (intricately played by the talented Carey Mulligan), narrates the film and is essentially the main focus of the film. Carey Mulligan creates so much pathos in her character, it is safely to say that she is one of the best actresses that modern film can offer. She executes this film with so much poise; Even her subtle facial expressions create goosebumps. Along with Kathy, the film follows her relationship with her fellow classmates, Ruth (Keira Knightley) and Tommy (Andrew Garfield). Garfield, the next “Spiderman,” is one to watch for, he has definitely matured from his last role in last year’s The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus.
This film is a masterpiece. The cinematography in the film is memorizing; The natural shots and the exposure of the characters’ reactions add to the chilling manner of the film overall. Moreover, the emotions that are enabled by the casts’ performances are simply haunting and heart-crushing. I have never seen so many people cry in one movie theater, it is really a defining film in combining drama with science fiction. Technique-wise, Romenek’s film is the pinnacle of perfection; But many of its small flaws keep it from being an overall unblemished film. The film’s pace and plot movement is much too slow and it some times experiences a directionless path, where it seems that the film is heading towards nowhere. At times there was a lack of forwards which negatively influences the film’s effectiveness. In addition, while the film does create some great heartbreak, there is somewhat a distance between the characters and the audience. While the cast is not at fault, the plot and given details make the characters only somewhat relatable; In other words, it seems as if they derive too much from an alternate world to be one of our time. But in the end, Never Let Me Go is an emotion-provoking film that will strike the heart of its audience in a way that is devastating yet memorable. It does not quite reach perfection, but the beauty, heart, and thought of the film covers its small blemishes. Grade: A-
Never Let Me Go is playing at The Landmark in West Los Angeles and The Arclight on Sunset Boulevard.
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An Education Movie Review
Within the film industry, there are types of movies that are created simply to just please the eye or take a break from the monotony of life for a couple hours of adrenaline and testosterone. While there are some that are created to inspire its audience in some positive or even a negative way. A perfect example of an inspirational movie that anyone average movie goer can relate to is Disney Pixar’s “Up,” which depicts an elderly man overcoming his dull and boring life to reach a life filled with substance. One can say that An Education follows the same model, but instead of achieving a life filled with pleasure and glamor, it shows an individual having this coveted life, and eventually losing it.
An Education is the screen adaptation of author Nick Hornby’s, writer of About A Boy, screenplay with the identical title. It is a coming-of-age story about a high school student from London named Jenny, Carey Mulligan, who embarks on a relationship with a man twice her own age, with this relationship she receives a life that any teenager would dream to have. An Education is Carey Mulligan’s breakthrough role, who has been unknown to the general audience starring in small roles such as last year’s Public Enemies. This movie does a fantastic job in introducing the actress, whose maturity resembles an actress much older. Jenny then eventually comes to a dark conclusion about this rich-filled life. Spoilers set aside, the dark conclusion is very inspiring in both a dark and negative way and depicts really how life truly is.
An Education, in simple words, does things right. Its star-studded English cast, which includes Alfred Molina, Emma Thompson, and Rosamund Pike(Pride & Prejudice), shines as they represent various types of characters. From a rich unintelligent woman, to an average instructor that one encounters in day-to-day life. It’s artistic view of London, the night-life, and Paris, is simply beautiful due to it’s simplicity. It’s dialogue that adds to both character development and subtle humor. The soundtrack filled with vintage and classical tunes that add to the overall mood of the story. And it ultimately conveys a true life, a life that’s possible, and how it possesses both good times and bad.
Some negative aspects of the movie include racial stereotypes expressed by the author. The movie is filled with some anti-semitic feelings that are somewhat unnecessary for the film. This ambiguity towards the Jewish community is totally irrelevant to the story, and could have been left out. The only positivity of this aspect is that it portrays racial feelings expressed in 1960s London. But even at that, it could have been removed.
Overall, An Education is one of my favorite films of 2009. I cannot really say what inspired me from this movie due to spoiler reasons, but I can say that every student should watch it. It really shows why it’s all important, and that life doesn’t have its shortcuts. An Education has been recently nominated for Best Picture, but will be sadly overshadowed by hyped films such as “Avatar,” or “Inglorious Basterds.” Carey Mulligan is my pick for Best Actress because her performance is truly impeccable, but I have a feeling Sandra Bullock’s overhyped performance in “The Blind Side,” will beat it. Anyway, awards set aside, An Education is a remarkable film, and I recommend it to anyone looking for a film with purpose. Grade: A
