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Wall Street

Wall Street (1987)

tomatometer

29

Average Rating: 4.5/10
Critic Reviews: 7
Fresh: 2 | Rotten: 5

No consensus yet.

audience

78

liked it
Average Rating: 3.5/5
User Ratings: 46,641

My Rating

Movie Info

"Greed is Good." This is the credo of the aptly named Gordon Gekko (Michael Douglas), the antihero of Oliver Stone's Wall Street. Gekko, a high-rolling corporate raider, is idolized by young-and-hungry broker Bud Fox (Charlie Sheen). Inveigling himself into Gekko's inner circle, Fox quickly learns to rape, murder and bury his sense of ethics. Only when Gekko's wheeling and dealing causes a near-tragedy on a personal level does Fox "reform"-though his means of destroying Gekko are every bit as

R, 2 hr. 6 min.

Drama

Stanley Weiser, Oliver Stone

Nov 7, 2000

20th Century Fox

Cast

All Critics (49) | Top Critics (7) | Fresh (44) | Rotten (12) | DVD (32)

The sensibility of this movie is so adolescent that it's hard to take it as seriously as the filmmakers intend us to.

September 18, 2007 Full Review Source: Chicago Reader | Comment
Chicago Reader
Top Critic IconTop Critic

Watching Oliver Stone's Wall Street is about as wordy and dreary as reading the financial papers accounts of the rise and fall of an Ivan Boesky-type arbitrageur.

September 18, 2007 Full Review Source: Variety | Comment (1)
Variety
Top Critic IconTop Critic

Wall Street isn't a movie to make one think. It simply confirms what we all know we should think, while giving us a tantalizing, Sidney Sheldon-like peek into the boardrooms and bedrooms of the rich and powerful.

May 20, 2003 Comment (1)
New York Times
Top Critic IconTop Critic

With its posturing politics and cardboard characterizations, Wall Street is not up to [Oliver Stone's] past standards.

January 1, 2000 Full Review Source: Washington Post | Comment
Washington Post
Top Critic IconTop Critic

In Wall Street...you will see the evil, capitalistic impulses of man. Towards the end, you will see the self-righteous impulses of liberal finger-waggers. It's hard to tell which is worse.

January 1, 2000 Full Review Source: Washington Post | Comment
Washington Post
Top Critic IconTop Critic

Stone's most impressive achievement in this film is to allow all the financial wheeling and dealing to seem complicated and convincing, and yet always have it make sense.

January 1, 2000 Full Review Source: Chicago Sun-Times | Comment
Chicago Sun-Times
Top Critic IconTop Critic

...an eye-opening behind-the-scenes glimpse at an almost alien landscape.

November 8, 2010 Full Review Source: Reel Film Reviews | Comment
Reel Film Reviews

For a motion picture that, at the time of shooting, was intended to be relatively hip and cutting-edge, it is now so laughably outdated it almost feels like science-fiction.

September 23, 2010 Full Review Source: DustinPutman.com | Comment (1)
DustinPutman.com

Like the rest of Stone's oeuvre, it's about as subtle as a sledgehammer. But his filmmaking style is like heavy metal: When he hits the right chords, nobody plays with as much power or brash energy.

September 20, 2010 Full Review Source: Sarasota Herald-Tribune | Comment

Unfortunately, Wall Street remains a fascinating specimen of modern-day American power lust, a tragic moral lesson our financial players have yet to learn.

September 19, 2010 Full Review Source: Slant Magazine | Comment
Slant Magazine

Some of the 1980s-era details may seem a bit dated, and the movie's attitude toward women is slightly despicable, but the overall story arc, echoing the "Faust" tale, is timeless.

April 16, 2010 Full Review Source: Combustible Celluloid | Comment
Combustible Celluloid

...blustery and unsophisticated, like many of the movies of Oliver Stone.

October 23, 2008 Full Review Source: LarsenOnFilm | Comments (2)
LarsenOnFilm

All the performances are excellent with the emotional highlights including the father/son emotional angst between Sheen and his real life father Martin Sheen.

March 28, 2008 Full Review Source: Urban Cinefile | Comment
Urban Cinefile

It's solid, but no showcase for HD.

January 27, 2008 Full Review Source: Movie Metropolis | Comment
Movie Metropolis

a compelling drama that is exceedingly well acted (with the obvious exception of the wretched Daryl Hannah)

October 2, 2007 Full Review Source: 7M Pictures | Comment
7M Pictures

A big, glossy movie that satirises the whole yuppie ethos more than anything else.

September 18, 2007 Full Review Source: Film4 | Comment

Writer-director Oliver Stone, who shows an uncanny knack for anticipating public interest in the subjects he chooses, explores the much-publicized inside trading scandals of the mid-1980s.

September 18, 2007 Full Review Source: TV Guide's Movie Guide | Comment
TV Guide's Movie Guide

There's a director's introduction, deleted scenes, and two featurettes: one on the making of the film and the other on the motto: 'Greed is good."

September 18, 2007 Full Review Source: Apollo Guide | Comment
Apollo Guide

Greed may be good, but this anniversary edition of Oliver Stone's humorless '80s satire is exceedingly generous with extras.

September 15, 2007 Full Review Source: Slant Magazine | Comment
Slant Magazine

Stone's attack on the excesses of the Me Decade could easily be dubbed Mr. Smith Goes to Wall Street.

September 15, 2007 Full Review Source: Slant Magazine | Comment
Slant Magazine

Wall Street is for all the ladder-climbers out there, and all the people under them who feel like rungs.

September 13, 2007 Full Review Source: Movie Metropolis | Comment
Movie Metropolis
More Critic Reviews

Audience Reviews for Wall Street

An excellent film about greed and the want to score each time more in the stock market game of power. Michael Douglas puts in a magnificent performance as the voracious, unforgettable shark Gordon Gekko, in a fascinating story that is greatly directed and relies on elegant dialogue.

August 28, 2011
blacksheepboy

Super Reviewer

I'll be honest, I'm not the biggest Oliver Stone fan. He's some great films (Platoon, Natural Born Killers) but I find that his films basically deal with the same subject. However with Wall Street he makes a very solid, and entertaining film about a Wall Street Broker, Bud Fox (Charlie Sheen) who is eager to make it

June 13, 2011
TheDudeLebowski65
Jeff "The Dude" Lebowski

Super Reviewer

    1. Gordon Gekko: The most valuable commodity I know of is information.
    – Submitted by Nusfish K (3 months ago)
    1. Gordon Gekko: Money never sleeps, pal.
    – Submitted by Felipe S (6 months ago)
    1. Lou Mannheim: The main thing about money, Bud, is that it makes you do things you don't want to do.
    – Submitted by Tom V (11 months ago)
    1. Bud Fox: I'm tapped out Marv. American Express' got a hit man lookin' for me.
    – Submitted by Tom V (11 months ago)
    1. Bud Fox: Blue Horseshoe loves Anacott Steel.
    – Submitted by Tom V (11 months ago)

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