History Film / WallStreet

* BrokenPedestal: Bud's attitude to Gekko after he [[spoiler:intentionally plans to drive his father's cherished company into bankruptcy]].

* EngineeredPublicConfession: Bud is [[spoiler:secretly wearing a HiddenWire to record Gekko's own crimes as part of his deal with the SEC to get a lighter sentence, during their final confrontation.]]

* Fiction500: Gekko is regarded as a ruthless corporate raider whom protagonist Bud Fox idolizes. Partway through the movie he confronts his rival, Larry Wildman, who during a tense negotiation tells Gekko, "I could break you, mate. In two pieces over my knees. You know it. I know it. I could buy you six times over. I could dump the stock just to ''burn your [[PrecisionFStrike arse]]''!"

* HiddenWire: [[spoiler:Bud uses a hidden wire during his final confrontation with Gekko, in a successful attempt to provoke him into confessing his complicity in Fox's insider trading and Gekko's own criminal behavior.]]

* AffablyEvil: Gekko zig-zags between this and FauxAffablyEvil. Yes, he's a surprisingly genial sort for somebody so ruthless and avaricious. But on the other hand, he will act like your best friend while plotting your ruin. How much of his "niceness" is sincere and how much is an act is left deliberately ambiguous.

** When Gekko asks Fox to follow Lawrence Wildman around, Fox complains that he could lose his Series 7 license and/or go to jail. In reality, there's nothing illegal about following someone around and noting that he ate lunch in a restaurant with others, as this is all publicly observable information. It would only be illegal if Fox harassed Wildman in some way, and Fox tries ''not'' to be noticed by Wildman or anyone with him.
** Carl tells Bud that Bluestar Airlines is about to settle a lawsuit and the stock should go up. In reality, Carl would be in legal trouble as he knew about the settlement before it became public knowledge.
* AsTheGoodBookSays: Marv tells Bud to "Go thou, and sin no more" (John Book 1, chapter 8 verse 11).

* BittersweetEnding: [[spoiler:Bud saves the airline, but is facing a jail term. Likewise, the airline workers have staved off unemployment, but are facing wage cutbacks.]] But the sequel reveals that [[spoiler:once Bud does his stint, he takes up the job at Bluestar that Wildman offered him, proceeds to turn it into one of the most successful airlines in the country, and retires a rich man.]]

** Bud tells Gekko that Bluestar Airlines is about to settle a lawsuit and the stock should soar on this news when Gekko is interviewing him for a high-level Wall Street role. Bud is desperate to impress Gekko and passes it off as his "research". In reality, this is considered insider trading, since Bud knows it because his father works for the airline. Of course, Gordon then finds out - and doesn't care - as insider trading, cornering the markets, and manipulating the financial press are all in Gordon's bag of tricks.

** If you were to go by the earlier scenes in the movie, you would think that none of Bud's coworkers have any semblance of morality. [[spoiler:However, towards the end of the movie, when they all find out about Bud's involvement in securities fraud, everyone gives him a cold stare.]]

* HollywoodLaw: It's a bit of a stretch for this trope perhaps, but in the final shot, Bud is shown walking up the courthouse steps in Lower Manhattan's Foley Square, presumably to his sentencing. However, he's walking up the steps of the New York County Supreme Court building—i.e., ''state'' court, when the insider-trading charges he would be allocating to within are strictly ''federal'', and so he should have been walking up the steps of the Thurgood Marshall U.S. Courthouse next door.
* HonorBeforeReason: Carl doesn't like Gekko or the proposed restructuring plan for Bluestar ''at all'' and believes Bud is being used and Gekko wants to destroy the company; nevertheless, he agrees to take the proposal to the workers at his union because he believes the employees have a right to know about and consider it.

* PresentDayPast: The film, released in late 1987, has an opening title saying the movie takes place in 1985. Yet within a minutes a character makes a reference to the ''Challenger'' disaster, which happened in early 1986. This was the result of adding the "1985" title after most of the film had been completed, as a way of setting it before the insider-trading scandals that had unfolded over the time the film was made.

* RiseAndFallGangsterArc: The film uses this trope for WhiteCollarCrime. At the start of the film, Bud is an inexperienced broker who aspires to become as successful as Gordon Gekko. Before long, Bud becomes wealthy, enjoying Gekko's promised perks, including a penthouse, his own corner office, and a girlfriend. However, Bud's involvement with Gekko and overuse of insider info also attracts government scrutiny, and it also alienates his father, who is an honest, blue-collar mechanic working for Bluestar Airlines. [[spoiler:The tensions between Gekko and Bud reach a boiling point when Bud finds out Gekko planned to break up Bluestar. It's a downplayed example as Bud decides to cooperate with the SEC by spilling the beans about Gekko's insider trading activities in exchange for a reduced prison sentence.]]

* TheSocialDarwinist: Gordon Gekko's philosophy is Social Darwinism of the economic kind. Several of his quotes are "[[ArtisticLicenseEconomics It's a zero-sum game]], somebody wins, somebody loses" or "In my book you either do it right or you get eliminated." His entire "Greed is good" speech is of TheSocialDarwinist nature. However, he only applies this trope to companies: weak people don't die, they just don't succeed in business, which is a fairly basic tenet of capitalism. Of course, he's [[{{Hypocrite}} more than willing to under-handed ways to win]] if he can't succeed on pure talent (although, given his character, he'd probably just attribute that to his ''intellectual'' superiority).

** [[spoiler:Near the climax, Gekko dumps his remaining interest in Bluestar, only to learn on the news that Wildman bought them at a lower price and will become its new owner. Realizing Bud conned him of his control of Bluestar, he physically assaults his former acolyte, berating his ingratitude for several of their illegal business transactions. Gekko is unaware Bud wore a HiddenWire as part of the latter's deal with the feds in exchange for a lighter sentence]].

-->'''Gekko''': Fox, where the hell are you? I am losing millions! Now you got me into this airline and you sure as hell better get me out or the only job you'll ever have on the Street is sweeping it! You hear me, Fox?\\

* MeaningfulName: The name "Bud Fox" can be interpreted as "Small/New (flower bud) and Crafty/Sneaky (like a fox)".
** Bud's name also sounds very similar to the phrase "b_tt f_cks", which is what [[spoiler:Bud does to Gekko]] in the last quarter of the film, and what [[spoiler:The SEC does to Bud]] in the end.

* OpposedMentors: Bud has to choose between his father, a blue-collar machinist who lives an honest lifestyle, and Gekko, a CorruptCorporateExecutive solely motivated by {{Greed}}.
* OriginalPositionFallacy: Gordon proudly supports the idea of "survival of the fittest", but only as long as ''he's'' the fittest. He's driven into a VillainousBreakdown when Bud [[spoiler:beats him at his own game and cheats him out of his control of Bluestar.]]

* TheSocialDarwinist: Gordon Gekko's philosophy is Social Darwinism of the economic kind. Several of his quotes are [[ArtisticLicenseEconomics "It's a Zero Sum game]], somebody wins, somebody loses" or "In my book you either do it right or you get eliminated." His entire "Greed is good" speech is of TheSocialDarwinist nature. However, he only applies this trope to companies: weak people don't die, they just don't succeed in business, which is a fairly basic tenet of capitalism. Of course, he's [[{{Hypocrite}} more than willing to under-handed ways to win]] if he can't succeed on pure talent (although, given his character, he'd probably just attribute that to his ''intellectual'' superiority).

* AffablyEvil[=/=]FauxAffablyEvil: Gekko zig-zags between the two. Yes, he's a surprisingly genial sort for somebody so ruthless and avaricious. But on the other hand, he will act like your best friend while plotting your ruin. How much of his "niceness" is sincere and how much is an act is left deliberately ambiguous.

-->'''Bud Fox''': How do you live with yourself?\\
'''Carl Fox''': I don't go to bed with no whore, and I don't wake up next to no whore. That's how I live with myself. I don't know how you do it.

** Carl tells Bud that Bluestar Airlines is about to settle a lawsuit and the stock should go up. In reality, Carl would be in legal trouble as well, as he is an insider who disclosed the settlement to Bud before it became public knowledge.

** In real life, Bud's father Carl would be in deep legal trouble as well, as he disclosed the settlement to Bud before the information was released. Disclosing inside corporate information, even to family or personal friends, before it becomes public is illegal, as this can cause others to seek personal gains or profits.

* DidntThinkThisThrough: While Bud was angered that Gekko used him, Bud should have realized that he definitely broke the law by disclosing confidential information about his client (Gekko) to a competitor (Wildman), and using that info to manipulate the markets and cost his client millions.

** [[spoiler:Near the climax, Gekko dumps his remaining interest in Bluestar, only to learn on the news that Wildman bought them at a lower price and will become its new owner. Realizing Bud conned him of his control of Bluestar, he physically assaults his former acolyte, berating his ingratitude for several of their illegal business transactions.]]

* TheAbyssGazesAlso:
-->'''Lou Mannheim:''' Bud... Bud I like you. Just remember something. Man looks in the abyss, there's nothing staring back at him. At that moment, man finds his character. And that is what keeps him out of the abyss.\\
'''Bud:''' I think I understand.

* TheDeterminator: Bud is definitely persistent in trying to work his way up the world of finance.

* [[EvilMentor Evil and]] CynicalMentor: Gordon Gekko to Bud Fox. In this case, it's the student who pushes for the mentor's advice. As soon as Bud makes himself useful to Gekko's financial schemes, Gekko takes him under his wing and gives him the life he always wanted while teaching him to be driven solely by greed and use illegal means if necessary to ensure his profits.

* HamToHamCombat: The confrontation between both Sheens. Martin even said "the size of your [[BigWordShout WALLET!]]" was inspired by another ham, George C. Scott, in ''Film/TheHustler1961''.

'''Bud Fox''': Gordon.
-->'''Gekko''': [[spoiler:''[still smug]'' You sandbagged me on Bluestar, huh? ''[chuckles again]'' I guess you think you taught the teacher a lesson, that the tail can wag the dog, huh? ''[crushes his cigarette with his foot]'' Well, let me clue you in, pal. The ''ice'' is melting right underneath your feet. ''[suddenly punches Bud and grabs him by the collar]'' Did you think you could've gotten this far this fast with anybody else, huh? You think you'd be out there dicking someone like Darien? No. You'd be cold-calling widows and dentists trying to buy 20 shares of some fucking dog-shit stock. I took you in. ''[hits Bud a 2nd time]'' '''A NOBODY!''' ''[hits him again]'' I opened the doors for you. I showed you how the system works. The value of information, how to ''get it!'' Fulham Oil, Brant Resources, Geodynamics. And this is how you fucking pay me back, [[VillainousBreakdown you cockroach!]]''[knocks Bud into the ground.]'' '''''[[VillainousBreakdown I GAVE YOU DARIEN! I GAVE YOU YOUR MANHOOD, I GAVE YOU EVERYTHING!]]''''' ''[calms down, then tosses a handkerchief to Bud to clean off the blood on his lip]'' You could have been one of the great ones, Buddy. I look at you, and I see myself. Why?]]

* StatusCellPhone: Gordon has an extravagant, top-of-the-the-line, and brick-sized cell phone.

''Wall Street'' is a 1987 American drama film directed by Creator/OliverStone, starring Creator/MichaelDouglas (in an [[UsefulNotes/AcademyAward Oscar]]-winning performance), Creator/CharlieSheen, and Creator/DarylHannah.

Bud Fox (Sheen), a young stockbroker who wants to reach the top of the world, becomes involved with his idol, Gordon Gekko (Douglas), a ruthless Wall Street player who has a conflict with Bud's father, Carl (Creator/MartinSheen).

It received a sequel in 2010, ''Film/WallStreetMoneyNeverSleeps''.

[[quoteright:292:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/wall_street_cover_1855.jpg]]

''Wall Street'' is a 1987 movie directed by Creator/OliverStone and starring Creator/MichaelDouglas (in an [[UsefulNotes/AcademyAward Oscar]]-winning performance) and Creator/CharlieSheen.

A stockbroker named Bud Fox (Sheen) wants to become top of the world. He becomes involved with his idol, Gordon Gekko (Douglas), a ruthless Wall Street player who has a conflict with Bud's father, Carl (Creator/MartinSheen).

Not to be confused with ''the actual'' Wall Street. ...there is no such article on that here yet. Or for that matter, ''Film/TheWolfOfWallStreet'' which deals with similar subject matter but is '''far more''' [[CrossesTheLineTwice line-crossing]] and [[ClusterFBomb vulgar]] than the film itself.

** Before this, Gekko throws a profanity-laced tirade at Bud when the latter asks him to sell off Bluestar, [[spoiler:unaware that it was part of Bud's scheme to deprive Gekko of his control over the airline]].

* VillainousBreakdown: [[spoiler:Near the climax, Gekko dumps his remaining interest in Bluestar, only to learn on the news that Wildman bought them at a lower price and will become its new owner. Realizing Bud conned him of his control of Bluestar, he physically assaults his former acolyte, berating his ingratitude for several of their illegal business transactions.]]