The point is, ladies and gentlemen - that greed, for lack of a better word, is good.
— Gordon Gekko
Wall Street is a 1987 movie directed by Oliver Stone and starring Michael Douglas and Charlie Sheen.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 (Martin Sheen).A sequel, Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps (also directed by Stone) starring Douglas and Shia LaBeouf was released on September 24, 2010.Not to be confused with the actual Wall Street. ...there is no such article on that here yet.
Beam Me Up, Scotty!: Gekko doesn't exactly say "greed is good", he says: "The point is, ladies and gentlemen, that greed, for lack of a better word, is good." This is because the theatrical trailers cut off the "excess" words and showed Gekko saying, "Greed is good. Greed works."
Better Than Sex: Gordon Gekko relates that when he made an $800,000 profit on his first business real-estate purchase, he thought making all that money was "better than sex," but years later, he only sees it as a day's pay.
Bittersweet Ending: Bud saves the airline, but is facing a jail term. Likewise, the airline workers have staved off unenployment, but are facing wage cutbacks.
Subverted. The sequel reveals that Bud did serve prison time but after he served, he was released and then took over the airline. Through his leadership, the company became one of the wealthiest airlines in America. He then sold it and now he spends his days as a retired millionaire.
Broken Pedestal: Bud's attitude to Gekko after he intentionally drives his father's cherished company into bankruptcy.
Even Evil Has Standards: 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. However, towards the end of the movie, when they all find out about Bud's involvement in fraud, almost everyone in the office is giving him a cold stare.
Ham-to-Ham Combat: The confrontation between both Sheens. Martin even said "the size of your WALLET!" was inspired by another ham, George C. Scott, in The Hustler.
The Man Is Sticking It To The Man: This is an anti-corporate, anti-capitalist movie produced by a major movie studio using corporate finance with the ultimate aim of making a profit.
Actually, Word Of God states that the film is actually more of a criticism of the cynical, quick-buck culture of the '80s business world, and is neither pro- nor anti- Wall Street. It was made to paint a picture of that world (the director's father was a stock broker himself), and leave viewers to form their own opinions. Given the many, many different views of the film, he's succeeded. There is probably a very high correlation between one's opinion of the film and one's economic views.
Naïve Newcomer: At first, Gordon Gekko dismisses Bud Fox as naive about the stock exchange.
The Oner: A great piece of acting by Sheen, as Bud is arrested for the insider trading he did during his time with Gekko, and slowly breaks down as he's handcuffed and led out of the office.
Oliver Stone even said he considered trading her with Sean Young, who plays Gekko's wife. Considering that Hannah later admitted her performance suffered because she disliked playing such a shallow character, and Young ended up stealing the costumes she wore after production wrapped because her part wasn't as big as she thought it would be, Stone probably should have.
Smug Snake: Subverted. Gordon Gekko is clearly in love with himself, but also remembers to Pet the Dog on occasion.
Status Cell Phone: Gordon has an extravagant, top-of-the-the-line, and brick-sized cell phone. This is used as a Technology Marches On gag in the sequel 'Money Never Sleeps' when he is released from prison and gets said phone, now obsolete, returned to him.
Unintentional Period Piece: In particular, technology and the lifestyles of the wealthy seem to change more noticeably than other things do. Arguably, this is Lamp Shaded in the first scene of the sequel, when Gekko gets back his enormous cell phone.
Very Loosely Based on a True Story: Gordon is inspired by several corporate raiders during the 1980s, and in fact the famous speech was based on one given by Ivan Boesky who like Gordon, got arrested for his financial activities.
Tropes included in the sequel:
Actor Allusion: Jake's cellphone ringtone is the theme from The Good, the Bad and the Ugly, which starred in a prominent role....Eli Wallach. Guess who plays Julie in this movie.
Disproportionate Retribution: Gordon spent over 11 years in prison for a "victimless" crime. That's twice as long as what most rapists get!
This is questionable, given the far-reaching consequences of white collar crime. Yes, its punished as a light offense, but in the real world the implications can be staggering.
Driven to Suicide: Louis Zabel (Jake's mentor), 20 minutes into the movie.
Dyeing For Your Art: Josh Brolin lost 30 pounds of weight for his role, and Shia LaBeouf did a lot of research on stock trading and even got a broker's license.
Enemy Mine: Gordon Gekko and Jake Moore team up against Bretton James, a thoroughly despicable stock gambler who has wronged them both.
Expy: Churchill Schwartz is a very, very obvious Expy of Goldman Sachs, right down to the article Jake Moore writes about them, the excerpt of which we see is literally taken word-for-word from Matt Taibbi's Rolling Stone now-classic article about Goldman Sachs with only the names changed. Bretton James is also pretty obviously heavily influenced by JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon, although going so far as to call him an Expy is probably stretching it.
For the Evulz: For some viewers, half of Gordon Gekko's motivation. Another interpretation is that he simply holds 'the game' up as a moral imperative.
Gordon Gekko:It's not about the money - It's about the game.
Good Colors, Evil Colors: All of the characters wear suits in morally ambiguous shades of grey. The villain, Bretton James, wears a demonic red suit.
Notable Commercial Campaigns: During the original airing of the pilot of $#!+ My Dad Says (Written as "$#*! My Dad Says"), special ads for Money Never Sleeps - which would open the next day - were headlined "$#*! Gordon Gekko Says".
Never a Self-Made Woman: One of the more extreme examples, where neither Jake nor Gekko take any of Winnie's values or opinions into consideration - her only purpose it to serve as a leverage for their "trading".
Snicket Warning Label: Inverted in Money Never Sleeps. If you turn off the film about five minutes before the end credits roll, it's a Downer Ending: Gordon Gekko reminds us all why he's a quintessential Magnificent Bastard by winning the Financial Crisis of 2008, and everyone else gets screwed over, whether they deserve to or not. Keep watching the last five minutes, however, and for no adequately explained reason everything resolves itself into a perfectly happy ending for everyone involved. *
that's why it's on this page rather than the main one
Stealth Pun: Before Jake tries to get revenge against Bretton James for destroying Zabel's company, his friend Robby comments that "It's a dish you stick to cold, pal." Jake responds that "I'm about to serve it up hot, Robby." However, his initial efforts achieve only paltry success. Much later, though, he finally manages to get true revenge against Bretton — with the help of a website called Frozen Truth.
Technology Marches On: There's a gag when Gordon, leaving prison, is given his old (formerly extravagant and top of the line) brick-sized cell phone back (it's one of the trailers for the movie).
Also, when one considers that 'Wall Street' itself no longer exists, as it has traditionally been understood. Trading is no longer the province of a few stock brokers in New York City, but is considerably decentralized and personal, thanks to the Internet. So, Finance Marches On, perhaps.
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