*Wall Street II*

It was not a great movie but it was better than I had been expecting and I am glad to have seen it.  Moral hazard was explained — well, and using that term – numerous times.  The central role of leverage behind the crisis was stressed, as were the political economy elements.  The movie was chock full of economics, to a remarkable degree, albeit in an unbalanced fashion, especially when it came to explaining "speculation."  The film very well captured the feeling of sick dismay which unfolded with the events of the financial crisis.  As an inside joke, they had a wonderful silent stand-in for Geithner.  In this movie men don't seem to care about women very much, not even for sex.  The Charlie Sheen cameo was my favorite moment, as it rewrites one's understanding of the first Wall Street movie and raises broader questions about the motivations of "good" people.  The female lead was flat; I suspect this was poor execution although a Straussian reading will attribute that to a brilliant savaging of her character.  I wished for a different ending.  A comparison with the parent film shows that New York has become less interesting.