History YMMV / WallStreetMoneyNeverSleeps

** The idea of Maria Bartiromo being someone that is trusted for business and financial news dates the movie to an era before she moved from [[AlphabetNewsNetwork CNBC]] to Fox News/Fox Business and, especially, before UsefulNotes/DonaldTrump got elected. (She was a big booster of him right until the Dominion/Smartmatic voter fraud claims, which earned her, some of her colleagues and Fox a $4 billion lawsuit for defamation.)

** The idea of Maria Bartiromo being someone that is trusted for business and financial news dates the movie to an era before she moved from [[AlphabetNewsNetwork CNBC]] to Creator/FoxNews/Fox Business and, especially, before UsefulNotes/DonaldTrump got elected. (She was a big booster of him right until the Dominion/Smartmatic voter fraud claims, which earned her, some of her colleagues and Fox a $4 billion lawsuit for defamation.)

* HilariousInHindsight: Gordon Gekko, a man who went to jail for massive insider trading and fraud, is doing a huge book signing at a Border's bookstore. Border's went out of business a year after the movie's release.

* UnintentionalPeriodPiece: The idea of Maria Bartiromo being someone that is trusted for business and financial news dates the movie to an era before she moved from [[AlphabetNewsNetwork CNBC]] to Creator/FoxNews/Fox Business and, especially, before UsefulNotes/DonaldTrump got elected. (She was a big booster of him right until the Dominion/Smartmatic voter fraud claims, which earned her, some of her colleagues and Fox a $4 billion lawsuit for defamation.)

* AlternateCharacterInterpretation: Gordon Gekko's inexplicable HeelFaceTurn in the last five minutes caught many audience members off guard. However, a less charitable reading of it would be that Gordon is simply ''buying'' his family back. He loses almost nothing since the investment money he uses has already served his purposes and the fusion project is stated to be a sound investment. It wins him back his daughter's respect and the eternal loyalty of his future-son-in-law. MagnificentBastard indeed. Although the idea of Gordon Gekko donating a large sum anonymously, without making monetary gain whatsoever, on the other hand...

* AlternateCharacterInterpretation: Gordon Gekko's inexplicable HeelFaceTurn in the last five minutes caught many audience members off guard. However, a less charitable reading of it would be that Gordon is simply ''buying'' his family back. He loses almost nothing since the investment money he uses has already served his purposes and the fusion project is stated to be a sound investment. It wins him back his daughter's respect and the eternal loyalty of his future-son-in-law. Magnificent Bastard indeed. Although the idea of Gordon Gekko donating a large sum anonymously, without making monetary gain whatsoever, on the other hand...

* UnintentionalPeriodPiece: The idea of Maria Bartiromo being someone that is trusted for business and financial news dates the movie to an era before she moved from CNBC to Creator/FoxNews/Fox Business and, especially, before UsefulNotes/DonaldTrump got elected. (She was a big booster of him right until the Dominion/Smartmatic voter fraud claims, which earned her, some of her colleagues and Fox a $4 billion lawsuit for defamation.)

* UnintentionalPeriodPiece: The idea of Maria Bartiromo being someone that is trusted for business and financial news dates the movie to an era before she moved from CNBC to Creator/FoxNews and, especially, before UsefulNotes/DonaldTrump got elected. (She was a big booster of him right until the Dominion/Smartmatic voter fraud claims, which earned her, some of her colleagues and Fox a $4 billion lawsuit for defamation.)

* UnintentionalPeriodPiece: The idea of Maria Bartiromo being someone that is trusted for business and financial news dates the movie to an era before she moved from CNBC to Creator/FoxNews and, especially, before UsefulNotes/DonaldTrump got elected. (She was a big booster of him right until the Dominion/Smartmatic voter fraud claims, which earned her, some of her colleagues and Fox a lawsuit for defamation.)

* UnintentionalPeriodPiece: The idea of Maria Bartiromo being someone that is trusted for business and financial news dates the movie to an era before she moved from CNBC to Creator/FoxNews and, especially, before UsefulNotes/DonaldTrump (of whom she was a big booster right until the Smartmatic voter fraud claims, which earned her, some of her colleagues and Fox sued for defamation) got elected.

* AlternateCharacterInterpretation: Gordon Gekko's inexplicable HeelFaceTurn in the last five minutes caught many audience members off guard. However, a less charitable reading of it would be that Gordon is simply ''buying'' his family back. He loses almost nothing since the investment money he uses has already served his purposes and the fusion project is stated to be a sound investment. It wins him back his daughter's respect and the eternal loyalty of his future-son-in-law. MagnificentBastard indeed. Although the idea of Gordon Gekko donating a large sum anonymously, without making monetary gain whatsoever, on the other hand...

** Creator/CharlieSheen's cameo as Bud Fox, though fans like to joke he was playing [[CrazyAwesome Charlie Sheen]] instead of Bud.

* MagnificentBastard: Gordon Gekko ends up expertly manipulating his son-in-law, outwits his enemies, wins back his fortune, and gets to be a grandfather.

* UnintentionallySympathetic: Bretton James is blamed for the death of Louis Zabel because he convinced other investors to refuse a bailout for Zabel's company. That said, the movie acknowledges that this was revenge for Zabel refusing to help James during the Dot-Com Bubble.

* RealitySubtext: In 2004, Douglas's half-brother Eric died of a drug overdose. Shortly before filming began, Douglas's son Cameron was sent to prison on drug-dealing charges, the latest installment in his long battle with addiction. Gekko's emotions as he recalls his own ultimately futile efforts to prevent ''his'' son's overdoes are thus very real for Douglas.

** Creator/CharlieSheen's cameo as Bud Fox.

* AlternateCharacterInterpretation: Gordon Gekko's inexplicable HeelFaceTurn in the last five minutes caught many audience members off guard. However, a less charitable reading of it would be that Gordon is simply ''buying'' his family back. He loses almost nothing since the investment money he uses has already served his purposes and the fusion project is stated to be a sound investment. It wins him back his daughter's respect and the eternal loyalty of his future-son-in-law. MagnificentBastard indeed.
** The idea of Gordon Gekko donating a large sum anonymously, without making monetary gain whatsoever, on the other hand...

** Creator/EliWallach as "Julie", the centennial banker.

* AlternateCharacterInterpretation: Gordon Gecko's inexplicable HeelFaceTurn in the last five minutes caught many audience members off guard. However, a less charitable reading of it would be that Gordon is simply ''buying'' his family back. He loses almost nothing since the investment money he uses has already served his purposes and the fusion project is stated to be a sound investment. It wins him back his daughter's respect and the eternal loyalty of his future-son-in-law. MagnificentBastard indeed.