The new stars of Oliver Stone’s Wall Street sequel are Shia LaBeouf and Carey Mulligan, but ex-jailbird Gordon Gekko bumps into an old friend at a swanky Manhattan benefit. Why, if it isn’t Charlie Sheen’s Bud Fox, who appears to have rebounded quite well from his own crimes two decades ago! But if greed really is good, then I want more than just a Bud Fox cameo. I want needy chatterbox Marvin (John C. McGinley), who certainly would have his own CNBC financial talk show by now. I want Sir Larry Wildman (Terence Stamp), who would still be shooting daggers at Gekko from across the room. And I want steady soothsayer Lou Mannheim (Hal Holbrook), who, judging by his long-term strategies, could still be cruising along on three percent returns.
Astute observers might recognize Sylvia Miles, who returns as a New York City real estate agent, but which original character do you most wish was still in the mix in 2010? Martin Sheen’s idealistic Carl Fox? Daryl Hannah’s Martha-Stewart-wannabe, Darien? I’ve got to go with seen-it-all Lou, who once advised Bud, “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.”
I feel like Daryl Hannah’s character who have od’d by now.
For me it’s a draw between Terence Stamp and John C. McGinley. Both have done well since then and could have been a nice addition even if both were in cameo rolls (i.e. CNBC commentator interviewing Sir Larry). Wall Street is in my top 5 movies (So is Caddy Shack). I bought it on VHS and have seen in 15+ times. Putting Shia in the movie was disapointing. I don’t dislike him, but was there really no one else they could have cast? How about James McAvoy, Chris Evans, or Chris Pine). Am still Looking forward to seeing it though…Greed is good! : )
Love the original, especially Sheen as Bud Fox. That being said, I just saw the movie and thought the scene with Sheen was a huge let down. I swear Sheen seemed to be channeling more Charlie Harper than Bud Fox…I get the feeling Charlie Sheen has turned inot a one trick pony playing only one character all these years.
Thank you! I liked the movie and was happy to see Bud Fox but he did remind me more of Charlie Harper.
What about Rachel (I mean, Sean Young)’s character, Mrs. Gekko? Is she in the sequel? I’m so excited to see this!!! I just won’t pay attention to EW’s C+ grade.
Sean Young is now on the Young and the Restless..She is not in the sequel.
Oh, and I love that picture!
I just wish they built much more on the characters from Wall Street 1. The character development from WS1 was a large part of what made it so good. Really wish they did more with the cameo appearance of Charlie Sheen also. It would have been exciting if they had built him into the script more deeply.
yeah I went today and sue me, but I enjoyed the sequel even more. There was more depth to Gekko and to Jacob as compared to Bud. Bud however did turn out like the old Gekko in a sense, all flash and no character.
It may have been interesting to see Fox mentoring Jacob but he had a mentor.
I think it would have been more interesting if the script was written so that the Frank Langella character could have been Larry Wildman. Would have made an interesting hook to the original. I still enjoyed the film though.
I NEED JAMES SPADER!
I saw the movie today and it lacked nothing. Shia LeBeouf can act circles around one trick pony Sheen! He is fabulous in this movie. And Carey Mulligan is one of a kind – a true talent. I don’t think Daryl Hannah could even share the same screen with her. Those who were in the movie were excellent and it is a fine current 2010 movie. Bringing other actors back would be pointless. It’s not the 80′s anymore.
I saw the movie today and it lacked nothing. Shia LeBeouf can act circles around one trick pony Sheen! He is fabulous in this movie. And Carey Mulligan is one of a kind – a true talent. I don’t think Daryl Hannah could even share the same screen with her. Those who were in the movie were excellent and it is a fine current 2010 movie. Bringing other actors back would be pointless. It’s not the 80′s anymore.
I can’t wait to see the movie. I’m going on Sunday. I love Michael Douglas and Shia LeBeouf. They are both very good actors.
It’s a great film. Don’t let the over-hyped “middling” reviews fool you. Among top critics, WS2 has a Fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes.
It’s a beautiful film with top notch acting. The story did go wrong in a couple places for me, so I’d give it a B+. Still, a strong effort by Stone, and a film worthy of Oscar nominations for it’s wardrobe, editing, cinematogrpahy and directing (I’d like it to make the Best Picture cut, but that’s probably wishful thinking).
I always was curious as to what happened to Roger Barnes, so I would like to have had James Spader in this one as well as Charlie Sheen.
Nope it’s not he eighties anymore,but c’mon Shia LeBeouf a better actor than Charlie Sheen get real ! As far as Carey Mulligan, I haven’t seen enough of her to say if she is a good actress or not.If you are comparing her to Daryl Hannah’s body of work, what are you comparing? Certainly not longevity. I just say to each their own…