Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps (2010)

Oliver Stone’s disappointing and unnecessary sequel to his original 1987 Wall Street hit, which was itself patchy. Michael Douglas returns as Gordon Gekko. He’s out of prison and says he wants to reconnect with his estranged daughter (an unconvincing Carey Mulligan). That daughter’s fiancé (Shia LaBeouf) is himself a Wall Street wizard and begins his own wheeler-dealing with Gordon Gekko. Josh Brolin plays a smooth, ruthless banker who gave evidence against Gekko in the past.

It’s a frustrating film that feels slow in parts and plain odd in others. Naff visuals don’t help: sometimes there are fussy split-screen effects, and at a couple of points we see crudely literal representation of “dominoes falling” and “science”. 

Susan Sarandon has a bit part that doesn’t really work, and Charlie Sheen has an awkward cameo purely as a nod to his role in the first film. He wasn’t very good in that either. 

Michael Douglas is always compelling, but it’s a genuinely baffling story that simply did not need to be told. The bolted-on happy ending suggests that Oliver Stone is muddled about how he feels about Gordon Gekko. He seems to be in love with the character and unable to make up his mind about whether he’s a nice guy or a baddie. Instead, he gives him a line about all of us being mixed bags who should give each other a break. After two films, that just seems like a cop-out.

Fury (2014)

Brad Pitt stars as Collier, a tough American sergeant commanding a Sherman tank (named Fury) on missions through Germany towards the end of World War II. The film focuses on his relationship with his crew and how they adapt to a new, naive young recruit (Logan Lerman) joining their team despite having no military experience.

The set pieces are violent and dramatic. An extended scene set in a house with two German women is especially powerful. 

It’s atmospheric and it looks convincingly grey, bleak and muddy.

Brad Pitt has rarely impressed me as an actor but he’s at his best here, finding a depth and charisma that sometimes eludes him in lesser roles.