Wall Street – Money Never Sleeps (2010/Fox Blu-ray) + Solitary Man (2010/Anchor Bay Blu-ray)
Picture:
B/B- Sound: B/B- Extras: B/C+ Films: B-/C+
Despite
his remarkable critical and commercial track record, Michael Douglas has not
been getting the respect he deserves and has explained that even he has had
trouble getting films made, which would have been unheard of ten years
ago. However, his recent illnesses shook
the establishment all around and suddenly, his work is getting attention again. We now look at his two latest films as he may
get nominated for both often.
I was not
the biggest fan of Oliver Stone’s original Wall
Street (1987) because I felt it did not go far enough and may have somewhat
glorified the very thing it was criticizing.
However, Stone managed to get Douglas
to reprise his Gordon Gekko role in the somewhat unlikely sequel Wall Street – Money Never Sleeps, his
first narrative film since W. a few
years ago. Gekko is out of prison and
some of the world has changed, but greed has only become worse.
Stone
wants to get back to criticizing the system and though the film begins with
some surprisingly strong promise, it falls short at the end. A young new broker (Shia LaBeouf in his best
work in years) happens to be involved with Gekko’s daughter and they inevitably
meet now that Gekko is literally back on the streets, now selling a new
book. Jake (LaBeouf) works for a
legendary firm whose boss (Frank Langella) is about to get into big trouble,
collapsing and leading to worse, hastened it turns out by a conniving, greedy
broker (Josh Brolin in another good performance), making Gordon Gekko a sudden
wild card in everyone’s life.
Gekko’s
daughter Winnie (Carey Mulligan) does not want to deal with her estranged
father and blames him for the suicide of her brother. This side of the story has potential, but it
sadly overtakes the film when Stone gives up on his overall critique of
corporate (late?) capitalism showing that too many years doing more commercial
fare (Alexander, Any Given Sunday) has compromised a
very important filmmaker. However, it is
worth seeing for what does work and to see Douglas
in good form.
Extras
include a great feature length audio commentary by Stone that is actually
better than the film and shows how good it could have been had he done more
work and taken more risks, BD Live interactive features, Digital Copy for PC
and PC portable devices, the Fox Movies Channel In Character With... episode on the film, Deleted/Extended Scenes
with optional Stone commentary, conversation with Stone and the cast on the
film and featurette: Money, Money, Money:
The Rise & Fall Of Wall Street.
Less
discussed is the Brian Koppelman/David Levien feature Solitary Man, with Douglas as
womanizer who has everything and is not happy.
Immediately, the approach is too similar to Wonder Boys, one of Douglas’ most
underrated films, but this still wants to be a similar off-beat comedy and it
never totally works.
Of
course, the more he is a jerk, the more he lives up to the title. This leaves the screenplay by Koppelman and
the roles get filled by a good cast of actors that try to make this work
better, but it seems to always miss the mark, even when the acting is
good. Danny DeVito shows up, but that
does not work out like it should, nor do turns by Jenna Fischer, Mary-Louise
Parker, Susan Sarandon (Sarandon turns up in both releases), Olivia Thursby, Douglas
McGrath and Imogen Poots. Jesse
Eisenberg (The Social Network, Adventureland) makes the most sense in
being cast and it is too bad more was not made of his role versus Douglas.
Still,
there are some moments that you may find worth sitting through, but this
disappoints despite the ambition.
Extras
include a feature length audio commentary by the directors & Actor Douglas
McGrath and featurette Solitary Man:
Alone In A Crowd.
The 1080p
2.35 X 1 digital High Definition image on both productions are not bad, but Solitary is softer than expected, while
the AVC @ 21 MBPS Street has its
moments, but too much digital work was done on an otherwise fine film shoot
lensed by Director of Photography Rodrigo Prieto, A.S.C., A.M.C., making New
York look as rich as it is. Street also
has a decent DTS-HD MA (Master Audio) 5.1 lossless mix, but it can be more
dialogue-based than expected and at least works with the narrative of the
film. The PCM 5.1 mix on Solitary outperforms the Dolby Digital
5.1 mix with ease, but is weaker than Street
and more dialogue-based. Both have good
soundfields, though Solitary can be
too much towards the front speakers.
For more
on the first Wall Street, try this link to our coverage of the Blu-ray:
http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/6545/Wall+Street+(1987/Blu-ray)
- Nicholas Sheffo
