Money has always made for good drama, but Wall Street movies take it a step further. They are about the human cost of ambition, not just about numbers on a screen or men shouting into phones.The towers of finance have long captivated the film industry, which views them as places where morality goes to die. These movies tell a variety of stories, from satire to tragedy, from ridiculous comedies to exposés that seem like warnings taken directly from the news.These 13 films chronicle the emergence, decline, and consequences of financial culture in addition to providing entertainment. They portray the allure of wealth and the mayhem it causes.We can observe how Wall Street influenced film, as well as how film influenced our perception of Wall Street, by following the development of these movies from the corporate fever dream of the 1980s to the post-crisis autopsies of the 2010s.The Era of Unchecked Ambition: The ‘80s and ‘90s1. Trading Places (1983)Written by: Timothy Harris, Herschel Weingrod | Directed by: John Landis Social order is turned upside down by this witty comedy. Louis Winthrope III (Dan Aykroyd), a snooty commodities broker, loses everything when his bosses use him in a cruel wager. Winthrope crosses paths with Billy Ray Valentine (Eddie Murphy), a street hustler, who is abruptly thrown into Winthrope’s opulent financial world. What starts as a screwball comedy ends with a scathing critique of privilege, greed, and the stock market itself.Its ability to make high finance humorous without diluting it is what makes...
Published By: NoFilmSchool - Saturday, 20 September