What to watch: Oliver Stone’s sharp critique of capitalism in “Wall Street”

In Oliver Stone’s “Wall Street,” money and power do not simply open doors. They test how much a person is willing to sacrifice to walk through them.

Released in 1987, the film follows Bud Fox, played by Charlie Sheen, an ambitious young man determined to escape his origins and enter Wall Street’s most exclusive circles. His model is Gordon Gekko, played by Michael Douglas, a seasoned investor who treats loyalty as something with a price.

Bud initially admires Gekko and adopts his rules. Stone uses their relationship to show ambition changing a person from the inside, as the pursuit of success gradually becomes a test of character.

The film’s criticism reaches beyond the trading floor. Stone combines fiction with elements drawn from the corporate world to portray finance as a force that can alter relationships, loyalties and even a person’s sense of self. Money appears not only as a route to success, but as a system that changes the people who pursue it.

The stakes become personal when Bud realizes that Gekko’s business dealings could directly affect his father and thousands of workers. At that point, the film asks how much someone will sacrifice to claim the position they have always wanted.

Nearly four decades after its release, “Wall Street” retains its force through that clash between ambition and ethics. It is not only a film about stockbrokers, but a portrait of the obsession with power and the consequences of treating financial success as the sole measure of achievement. It is available on Disney+.