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A-List: MoneyBy Jason DeanAugust 24, 2003
“I don't want to sell anything, buy anything, or process anything as a career. I don't want to sell anything bought or processed, or buy anything sold or processed, or process anything sold, bought, or processed, or repair anything sold, bought, or processed. You know, as a career, I don't want to do that.” It’s perhaps a wonderful ideal, but let’s face it. Money does mean something in this world. Turning the critical eye squarely back at ourselves, if it wasn’t for the public having some interest in the financial aspect of movies, you wouldn’t be reading this Web site. Money might not buy me love but it does serve as the loose theme linking this week’s movies.
Wall StreetThe point is, ladies and gentlemen, that greed, for lack of a better word, is good. Greed is right. Greed works. Greed clarifies, cuts through and captures the essence of the evolutionary spirit. Greed, in all of its forms - greed for life, for money, knowledge - has marked the upward surge of mankind and greed - you mark my words - will not only save Teldar Paper but that other malfunctioning corporation called the USA. Thank you.Michael Douglas was perhaps perfect to portray Gordon Gekko and this role set the actor on a career path of being the rich, white guy. Outside of his pissed off, displaced, aerospace engineer in Falling Down, one can lump the majority of his roles in to stereotype of wealthy WASPs. Disclosure, The Game, A Perfect Murder...I think the lowest grossing profession he portrayed during that streak was the President of the United States in The American President. Wall Street has come to symbolize the consumptive nature of the ‘80s as well as any movie. Sure, Bud gains some sense of conscience and has to pay for his crime but who remembers that? It’s all about Gordon Gekko.
Glengarry Glen Ross / Big KahunaBoth movies are essentially filmed plays that feature Kevin Spacey and shine a spotlight on the brutal and sad lives of sales guys. But that seems to be where the comparisons end. The fact that Mamet gives his cast far better dialogue and the adds of the brutal boss in the form of Alec Baldwin helps Glengarry Glenn Ross to far outshine the Big Kahuna.
Boiler RoomIf Big Kahuna is a poor imitation of Glengarry Glen Ross, Boiler Room almost stoops the level of being a parody of Glengarry Glen Ross and Wall Street. While I know it’s not necessarily a good movie -- perhaps it’s even a bad movie -- it was just so much fun. Giovanni Ribisi does what he can as the kid who means to do well and leaves his illegal card room behind to join an even more corrupt brokerage. Ben Affleck in a pre-JLo’d age gives a wonderful performance as the leader of the brokerage and utters the immoral words, “They say money can't buy happiness? Look at the fucking smile on my face. Ear to ear, baby.”
How to Get Ahead in AdvertisingRichard E. Grant gives a stunning performance in this lesser-seen British black comedy. Grant has been assigned to come up with an advertising campaign for Boilbusters, a task that places so much stress on him that he starts to see things as well as talk to a boil that forms on his shoulder. Along the way, the brand-immersed world in which we live is skewered and the viewer sees a rather bizarre trip into the nature of one’s self. It makes for one of the funniest movies that I’ve ever seen.
Josie and the PussycatsFinally, to end with a bit of swerve on the theme, we have Josie and the Pussycats, which parodied the corporate sponsorship and selling to teens as well as any movie ever has, not to mention the whole idea of the teen pop stars of the time. I can still remember being in shock when the Backstreet Boys knockoffs started singing, “I’ll be your back door lover.” I’ve seen some criticism that the movie centers around the product placement either too much or too little, which leads me to think that some reviewers just didn’t clue into the satire or tried to read too much into the film. Any movie that slips in the claim that Can’t Hardly Wait was underrated can’t be all that bad....even if both films were done by the same writing and directing team.
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