Skip to main content
Games Radar Newsarama Total Film Edge Retro Gamer SFX
GamesRadar+ GamesRadar+ The smarter take on movies
flag of UK
UK
flag of US
US
flag of Canada
Canada
flag of Australia
Australia
Sign in
  • View Profile
  • Sign out
  • News
  • Reviews
  • Features
  • More
    • PS5
    • Xbox Series X
    • Nintendo Switch
    • Nintendo Switch 2
    • PC
    • Platforms
    • Tabletop Gaming
    • Comics
    • Toys & Collectibles
    • Newsarama
    • Retro Gamer
    • Newsletters
    • About us
    • Features
Gaming Magazines
Gaming Magazines
Why subscribe?
  • Subscribe from just £3
  • Takes you closer to the games, movies and TV you love
  • Try a single issue or save on a subscription
  • Issues delivered straight to your door or device
From$12
Subscribe now
Trending
  • Best Netflix Movies
  • Best movies on Disney Plus
  • Movie Release Dates
  • Best Netflix Shows
Don't miss these
Emma Stone and Ryan Gosling in La La Land
Movies The 32 greatest Los Angeles movies of all time
Jack Nicholson in A Few Good Men
Movies The 32 greatest cinematic legal thrillers ever made
Adam Driver as Cesar in Megalopolis
Sci-Fi Movies Francis Ford Coppola wants to re-edit his divisive passion project Megalopolis to make it "more weird": "I own the picture, I can do anything I want with it"
Gregory Peck in To Kill a Mockingbird
Movies The 32 greatest movies about dads ever made
Martin Scorsese
Drama Movies Martin Scorsese "went all Raging Bull" when asked why he doesn't watch movies in theaters anymore, but his answer is sadly relatable
Cillian Murphy in Oppenheimer
Movies The 32 greatest biopics of all time
Rachel Sennott in Shiva Baby
Movies The 32 greatest movies under 90 minutes
Leonardo DiCaprio in Once Upon a Time in Hollywood
Drama Movies Leonardo DiCaprio says there is only one movie of his that he will rewatch, and reveals his biggest career regret
A screenshot shows actress Jennifer Jason Leigh in the movie eXistenZ
Entertainment David Cronenberg says he's "never been a great games player" — the only "game" in movies like eXistenZ and Videodrome "is to try to understand what life is now"
Mark Hamill as the Major in The Long Walk
Horror Movies Mark Hamill says he has Mike Flanagan to thank for getting him to play live-action villains, like in upcoming Stephen King adaptation The Long Walk: "He thought outside the box"
Chris Pine and Denzel Washington in Unstoppable
Movies The 32 greatest train movies of all time
Austin Butler as Hank in Caught Stealing
Crime Movies Austin Butler's Caught Stealing stunts didn't faze New York City locals, despite "hanging out of a window of a real building" 6 stories up
The White Lotus
Horror Movies American Psycho reboot has another potential Patrick Bateman: The White Lotus and Gen V star Patrick Schwarzenegger
Drama Movies The 10 best drama movies of all time, ranked
The robot from Ex Machina
Movies The 32 greatest movies about technology
  1. Entertainment
  2. Movies

The Evolution of Michael Douglas

Features
By Matt Maytum published 8 October 2010

The Wall Street star, film-by-film

When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Here’s how it works.

Cast a Giant Shadow (1966)

Cast a Giant Shadow (1966)

Michael Douglas' first movie appearance comes with a touch of irony. Douglas' father, Kirk, was a Hollywood legend who did indeed cast a giant shadow. But Michael wasn't one to cower away in Oedipal fear, and instead he piggy-backed in the starry jaunt.

Kirk is celebrated military man 'Mickey' Marcus who becomes involved with the Israeli army during the 1948 conflict. John Wayne, Yul Brynner and Frank Sinatra fill out the cast, and Mike gets his first Hollywood cap as 'Jeep Driver'. Well, it's a start.

Smug Doug? Not much for Junior to be smug about here.

Page 1 of 39
Page 1 of 39
Hail, Hero! (1969)

Hail, Hero! (1969)

After a brief appearance in an episode of CBS Playhouse , Douglas got his first lead role in Hail, Hero! He played Carl Dixon, an idealistic college student who quits his studies to join the war effort in Vietnam.

Another movie of father issues galore: Carl's 'make love, not war' approach doesn't go down well with his military pop. Douglas used this 'issues' movie to prove that he could actually act, and was a worthy offspring of Kirk.

Smug Doug? There is something self-satisfied about wide-eyed Carl, though his rebellious hairdo is worlds apart from the slick Douglas we're more familiar with.

Page 2 of 39
Page 2 of 39
Adam at Six A.M. (1970)

Adam at Six A.M. (1970)

Another lead role for Douglas, and it echoes some of his later parts. He plays Adam, a young semantics professor at a California college who becomes disillusioned with his lifestyle.

He travels home to Missouri for a family funeral and decides to stay for the whole summer, during which time he works as a manual labourer and romances Jerri Jo Hopper (Lee Purcell). Douglas does a decent line in inner turmoil as he struggles to decide whether or not to return to his academic lifestyle.

Smug Doug? It's there in the burgeoning mullet and the womanising ways.

Page 3 of 39
Page 3 of 39
Summertree (1971)

Summertree (1971)

After another little TV part in The F.B.I. , Douglas was back in movies for Summertree . The Vietnam drama had similar themes to Hail, Hero! , and producer Kirk Douglas allegedly bought the rights to make the film as little Mikey had been fired from the stage version.

Douglas plays a down-on-his luck twenty-something, who tries various (unsuccessful) methods of dodging his draft.

Smug Doug? Not at all, as luckless Jerry faces bad times with his love affair, his 'little brother' and his musical education in a relentless run of poor fortune.

Page 4 of 39
Page 4 of 39
Napoleon and Samantha (1972)

Napoleon and Samantha (1972)

After taking another couple of TV jobs, Douglas headlined this Disney family flick, though he had something of a superfluous role, playing second fiddle to a couple of journeying kids (Jodie Foster and Johnny Whitaker) and their pet lion.

The kids seek out Danny (Douglas), who lives in a cabin on a mountain, to help them out of a couple of scrapes.

Smug Doug? The wilderness man lifestyle leads to a bit of a rugged, holier-than-thou lifestyle, though he does do his best to help out the young nippers.

Page 5 of 39
Page 5 of 39
The Streets of San Francisco (1972-76)

The Streets of San Francisco (1972-76)

This long running TV cop drama got Douglas his first signature role as Inspector Steve Keller. He was the young, inexperienced partner of Karl Malden's Lieutenant Stone, and Douglas praised Malden as a "mentor" on his death in July 2009.

During his time on the show, Douglas found time to produce his first movie: a little Jack Nicholson-starrer called One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (which saw Douglas' name inscribed on the Best Picture Oscar).

Smug Doug? He clearly enjoyed playing the 'cocky young buck' half of the crime-solving odd couple.

Page 6 of 39
Page 6 of 39
Coma (1978)

Coma (1978)

Douglas starred as a surgery resident in this medical thriller from writer-director Michael Crichton. The Jurassic Park author adapted Robin Cook's novel, in which trainee doctor Susan Wheeler uncovers a major conspiracy at a Boston Hospital.

Susan's boyfriend, Mark Bellows (Douglas), is reluctant to believe her theories when she discovers that a number of healthy, young patients are becoming comatose during routine operations, but he eventually acts when his beloved gets into trouble.

Smug Doug? Casually confident at first, but not so chirpy when he discovers the missus was right...

Page 7 of 39
Page 7 of 39
The China Syndrome (1979)

The China Syndrome (1979)

Another paranoid thriller for Douglas, though this one tapped into fears of nuclear catastrophe. Jane Fonda is a dollybird news anchor, who hits on a potentially huge story of safety errors at a nuclear power plant.

Douglas sports a legendary beard-mullet combo as Fonda's cameraman, and Jack Lemmon gives a fine dramatic performances as a sweaty, overwrought plant supervisor who just might be able to blow the whistle on the Homer Simpson-esque safety risks.

Smug Doug? If you were rocking his 70s lion's mane, you'd be feeling pretty good about yourself.

Page 8 of 39
Page 8 of 39
Running (1979)

Running (1979)

Rocky with running! Douglas is down-on-his-luck marathon runner Michael Andropolis, striving to compete in the 1976 Olympics, largely to earn a bit of cash, and to win back the respect of his ex and their kids.

After fortuitously getting a place in the games when a qualified competitor suffers an injury, Andropolis must learn to temper his instincts and pace himself in order to win the race. Like Rocky, he loses the race, but proves his gutsiness.

Smug Doug? Not here. Perhaps he knew that running makes for inherently less exciting cinema than boxing.

Page 9 of 39
Page 9 of 39
It's My Turn (1980)

It's My Turn (1980)

Proof that lame rom-coms are nothing new, It's My Turn is the tale of uptight professor Kate Gunzinger (Jill Clayburgh), who falls for loutish baseball player Ben Lewin (Douglas) after meeting him at her father's wedding. Problem is, she already has a boyfriend in the form of dweeby Homer (Charles Grodin).

Douglas and Grodin do elevate the material somewhat, but not to the point of making it recommendation-worthy.

Smug Doug? Yep, he clearly enjoys playing the seductive schlub.

Page 10 of 39
Page 10 of 39
The Star Chamber (1983)

The Star Chamber (1983)

Michael Douglas is an idealistic young judge in this thriller that could loosely be described as Judge Dredd in a real world context. Loosely.

Judge Hardin (Douglas) is dismayed to see two heinous crims get off the hook in a trial via an evidence technicality. A friend advises him on the 'Star Chamber', a secret group of judges who ensure that justice is meted out, and it's not long before Hardin is in over his head.

Smug Doug? More 'fraught and angsty' crusader here.

Page 11 of 39
Page 11 of 39
Romancing the Stone (1984)

Romancing the Stone (1984)

Zemeckis' rompy adventure launched the golden period in Douglas' career, landing both director and star their first bona-fide blockbuster (with Michael apparently only getting the gig after Sly Stallone and Christopher Reeve passed).

Comparisons to Indy were inevitable, but Romancing the Stone has endured as a Sunday afternoon favourite over the years, not least due to the crackling chemistry between Douglas and Kathleen Turner, and Zemeckis' crowdpleasing sensibilities.

Smug Doug? The cocky adventurer is one of his most irrepressibly confident performances.

Page 12 of 39
Page 12 of 39
The Jewel of the Nile (1985)

The Jewel of the Nile (1985)

The success of Romancing saw a sequel follow extremely hot on its heels, although this time without Zemeckis at the helm, as he was off making Back to the Future .

Douglas, Turner and Danny DeVito are still good company, but this sequel feels like limp, lifeless retread of the first movie. It retains much of the Douglas-Turner chemistry, but everything else lacks spark. The boredom is made a little more awkward by some disquieting racial stereotyping.

Smug Doug? His contractually-obliged grin and swagger are put on display.

Page 13 of 39
Page 13 of 39
A Chorus Line (1985)

A Chorus Line (1985)

Richard Attenborough directed this exceptionally campy dance tale, which stars Dougie as a theatre director wrangling a bunch of young talents who are hoping to make it into the titular chorus line.

Complications ensue when one of Douglas' former flames makes it into his troupe. Some impressive choreography isn't really enough to make this trouble your 'must watch' list.

Smug Doug? More of a stern arrogance, as he's in Simon Cowell mode, berating the leotarded lovelies prancing about on his stage.

Page 14 of 39
Page 14 of 39
Fatal Attraction (1987)

Fatal Attraction (1987)

Michael Douglas was prime A-list when he made this steamy thriller. It was a huge hit, raking in $320m worldwide, and nabbing six Oscar noms.

Douglas is Dan Gallagher, a family man who cheats on his wife in a one-off encounter with Glenn Close's Alex Forrest. Douglas deftly switches from cool to crumbling when events turn sour, but it's Glenn Close's unhinged performance that'll stay with you.

Smug Doug? Considerably less pleased with himself once Alex cranks her revenge scheme into motion.

Page 15 of 39
Page 15 of 39
Wall Street (1987)

Wall Street (1987)

Gordon Gecko is still widely regarded as Michael Douglas' signature role (the actor returns to play him again in this year's sequel).

Gecko chomps cigars, champions greed and crushes businesses for sport, taking Charlie Sheen's innocent (read: weak-willed) Bud Fox under his wing for some insider trading.

The slimy power-yuppie's name has become the byword for 80s excess, but so charismatic was Douglas' performance that many wannabe stockbrokers were actually encouraged by his antics.

Smug Doug? Never more so...

Page 16 of 39
Page 16 of 39
Black Rain (1989)

Black Rain (1989)

Michael Douglas was in action man mode for Black Rain , one of the lesser-known films in director Ridley Scott's canon. Nick Conklin (Douglas) is an NYPD officer who, along with his partner Charlie Vincent (Andy Garcia), is tasked with returning a Yakuza member back to Japan.

The criminal escapes and goes on the run as soon as he is on his home turf, leaving Conklin and Vincent to hunt him down, and delve ever deeper into the murky Japanese underworld.

Smug Doug? Douglas' motorcycling cop wears a permanent scowl throughout his Japanese adventure.

Page 17 of 39
Page 17 of 39
The War of the Roses (1989)

The War of the Roses (1989)

Douglas, Turner and DeVito were reunited again for this terminally black comedy about a couple whose relationship goes down the pan. Barbara and Oliver Rose meet under romantic circumstances, fall in love, and slowly grow to despise each other.

This refreshingly dark film (directed by DeVito) once again relishes in the Douglas-Turner chemistry, while taking it to disturbingly-violent new levels. DeVito plays Oliver's lawyer friend, who recounts the tale of the Roses to a client considering divorce.

Smug Doug? Marital tensions quickly see Douglas' cool demeanour become dishevelled.

Page 18 of 39
Page 18 of 39
Shining Through (1992)

Shining Through (1992)

This poorly-received period thriller cast Melanie Griffith opposite Douglas. He plays attorney-cum-OSS colonel Ed Leland, she plays his assistant and translator whose German language skills come in handy when Ed needs some help investigating a murder in wartime Berlin.

Douglas and Griffith don't do enough to make the improbable series of events even remotely plausible, and, for co-star Liam Neeson, this makes for a poor contrast with Schindler's List .

Smug Doug? He doesn't exactly look like he's having the time of his life here.

Page 19 of 39
Page 19 of 39
Basic Instinct (1992)

Basic Instinct (1992)

Paul Verhoeven's erotic thriller sounds like something that you'd find if you were doing some late night channel-hopping, but decent performances and tense plotting keep it very watchable.

Sharon Stone gave a career-defining performance as author, hedonist and possible murderer Catherine Trammell. Douglas is Nick Curran, the put-upon, pullover-wearing cop who ends up balls-deep in the case. A textbook guilty pleasure.

Smug Doug? Only when he's getting his end away…

Page 20 of 39
Page 20 of 39
Falling Down (1993)

Falling Down (1993)

Up there with Gecko in the ranks of Douglas' most memorable performances is William 'D-Fens' Foster. He's a stressed out, unemployed divorcee who, spurred on by a sweaty traffic jam, decides to take action against the society that he feels has wronged him, during the course of one long, hot day.

He administers his own brand of skewed justice to shopkeepers, gang members, neo-Nazis and fast food outlets. Robert Duvall is the pursuing copper who's in for a particularly memorable last day on the job.

Smug Doug? No, this is Douglas at his most fraught and delusional.

Page 21 of 39
Page 21 of 39
Disclosure (1994)

Disclosure (1994)

You could (very tenuously) call this the final part of a Douglas vs Sexually Predatory Women trilogy. Sadly this effort can't hold a candle to either Fatal Attraction or Basic Instinct .

Tom Sanders (Douglas) is surprised when his ex, Meredith (Demi Moore), beats him to a promotion. After he spurns her advances, she tries to set him up for sexual harassment, destroying his life in the process. With the only chance of help an anonymous emailer, this is Douglas at his most neutered.

Smug Doug? Not while the events were transpiring, but you can imagine him telling the tale with relish at future opportunities.

Page 22 of 39
Page 22 of 39
The American President (1995)

The American President (1995)

This was written by Aaron Sorkin before he hit big with The West Wing (and much before he was grabbing plaudits galore for this month's The Social Network ). Rob Reiner was at the helm of this old-school charmer in which the widowed leader of the US (Douglas) tries to juggle romancing environmental lobbyist Annette Bening with running the country.

Sorkin and Reiner bring depth and class to this unfailingly pleasant tale, and Douglas and Bening provide bags of charm to hold everything together.

Smug Doug? He'd get our vote…

Page 23 of 39
Page 23 of 39
The Ghost and the Darkness (1996)

The Ghost and the Darkness (1996)

Based on the true story of African railway workers who were killed by marauding lions at the end of the 19th century. Douglas plays Charles Remington, a game hunter called in to help engineer John Henry Patterson (Val Kilmer) with his feline problem.

Douglas has fun with the pulpy material, but he apparently requested that his enigmatic character have a bigger role and more backstory, much to the chagrin of screenwriter William Goldman.

Smug Doug? He's pretty confident in his hunting abilities.

Page 24 of 39
Page 24 of 39
The Game (1997)

The Game (1997)

David Fincher's Se7en follow-up sees Douglas as super-wealthy financier Nicholas, who receives a gift voucher for a game from mysterious company Consumer Recreation Services.

At first he seems to enjoy this exciting twist in his life, until he realises that CRS is after his cash and it becomes impossible to distinguish his real life from the game. Douglas turns in a measured, subtle performance, veering between cold isolation and suffocating panic without the need for histrionics.

Smug Doug? Anyone regularly described as 'the man who has everything' will likely be a little self-satisfied.

Page 25 of 39
Page 25 of 39
A Perfect Murder (1998)

A Perfect Murder (1998)

Michael Douglas got in on the Hitchcock remaking game with this one. He was playing it incredibly wealthy again as Steven Taylor, an industrialist who discovers that his hot young wife (Gwyneth Paltrow) is having an affair.

Rather than simply confronting her, the cuckold hires her lover (Viggo Mortensen) to off her in exchange for a stack of cash. Could it be that Taylor has eyes on inheriting her trustfund? A Perfect Murder is hardly one for the ages, but it rattles along decently enough if you need to kill a couple of hours.

Smug Doug? Sinisterly so.

Page 26 of 39
Page 26 of 39
Wonder Boys (2000)

Wonder Boys (2000)

Douglas acted his age as bumbling professor (and block-stricken novelist) Grady Tripp.

The marijuana-smoking literary professor is struggling to come up with an ending to his second novel, following the wide acclaim that his first received. His love life is in total disarray, and he's also dealing with troubled students Katie Holmes and Tobey Maguire.

The top notch cast (Frances McDormand, Robert Downey Jr) ably support Douglas in this affective adaptation of Michael Chabon's character-led novel.

Smug Doug?
This is a rare, and very welcome, change of pace.

Page 27 of 39
Page 27 of 39
Traffic (2000)

Traffic (2000)

Michael Douglas and Catherine Zeta-Jones both appear in Steven Soderbergh's multilayered, Oscar-netting drug drama, although they don't actually share any screentime.

Douglas plays a judge tasked with tackling the drug problem on a nationwide scale, and he struggles to hold it together when he learns that his daughter is addicted to cocaine. Zeta-Jones is the well-kept trophy wife who discovers her husband has been getting all of his dosh from drug running. Soderbergh darts in an out of the various social strata affected with dazzling fluidity.

Smug Doug? Nah, this is subtly-cracking-under-the-pressure Doug.

Page 28 of 39
Page 28 of 39
One Night at McCool's (2001)

One Night at McCool's (2001)

Douglas, who also produces here, is on fine form in a supporting role in this multiple-perspective comedy that plays something like Carry On Rashomon .

Three variously-deluded blokes recount their evening spent with Jewel (a never-more-seductive Liv Tyler), with comically disparate results. Michael Douglas quiffs it up to the max as a sleazy hitman, hired by barkeep Randy (Matt Dillon) to dispatch his woman trouble.

Smug Doug? Hell yeah, he's clearly loving the chance to cut loose in a secondary role.

Page 29 of 39
Page 29 of 39
Don't Say a Word (2001)

Don't Say a Word (2001)

This so-so thriller pits Michael Douglas' child psychiatrist Nathan Conrad against Sean Bean's jewel thief, when the latter needs the doc to crack into Brittany Murphy's head (not literally) and retrieve a vital six-digit code.

It's a mightily silly premise, and it ends up acting as a distancer rather than a hook. The cast are fine (Bean and Murphy are always good value), but there is nothing to lift this thriller above the humdrum.

Smug Doug? Too bored to try it on.

Page 30 of 39
Page 30 of 39
It Runs in the Family (2003)

It Runs in the Family (2003)

After returning to TV for a couple of years, and picking up an Emmy nom for a guest role on Will & Grace , Mike got the chance to work with his dad, mum and son in this comedy.

Seeing Kirk and Michael onscreen together is likely to be the only reason you'd even consider catching this, as you certainly aren't going to get any other form of enjoyment out of it: this lame laugh-void doesn't distinguish itself from the countless comedies that have half-heartedly tried to insert the word fun into 'dysfunctional'…

Smug Doug? There's three generations worth of the Douglas grin in this one.

Page 31 of 39
Page 31 of 39
The In-Laws (2003)

The In-Laws (2003)

It's hard to imagine that anyone was begging to see Douglas in another family comedy after the mediocrity of It Runs in the Family . One can only surmise that Douglas took this project on so that during a retrospective of his career, it would make the former look a little more appealing.

Douglas is an undercover CIA agent, whose son (Ryan Reynolds) is marrying Albert Brooks' daughter. The two mismatched dads end up on the run from the FBI in this woefully unfunny comedy.

Smug Doug? He can smirk all he wants, we're not buying it.

Page 32 of 39
Page 32 of 39
The Sentinel (2006)

The Sentinel (2006)

After a poor run, Douglas took a much needed break, but he didn't exactly return to prime form. The Sentinel is as rote an action thriller as you're likely to see. Playing a presidential bodyguard who is framed for an assassination attempt, Douglas' attempt to shift back into action man mode has him coming across as Jason Bourne's frisky great-uncle.

Douglas is more convincing than he has any right to be, but as genre cinema this is forgettable stuff.

Smug Doug? He's not looking so chipper when he's got Jack Bauer on his tail.

Page 33 of 39
Page 33 of 39
You, Me and Dupree (2006)

You, Me and Dupree (2006)

Be thankfully for this one then. Despite the mediocre quality of the project as a whole, the irritating house-guest comedy gets an appreciated boost by a back-on-form Dougie.

As the boss of his daughter's hubby, Douglas gets some of the movie's best moments, enjoying the chance to smarm it up to the max whilst irritating the hell out of Matt Dillon's exasperated newlywed.

Smug Doug? He's off the leash here.

Page 34 of 39
Page 34 of 39
King of California (2007)

King of California (2007)

Alexander Payne produced this indie com starring Michael Douglas as Charlie, a recently discharged mental patient who disrupts the life of his daughter (Evan Rachel Wood) when he comes to stay with her.

He is obsessed with finding buried treasure, and believes that the mother lode he is looking for may just be under the local Costco. As an examination of mental illness, it's pure froth, but Douglas is game as the deluded but loveable oldie.

Smug Doug? Not really, though he has every reason to be proud of that beard.

Page 35 of 39
Page 35 of 39
Beyond a Reasonable Doubt (2009)

Beyond a Reasonable Doubt (2009)

This remake of the 1956 Fritz Lang thriller is thoroughly daft stuff. Desperate Housewives star Jesse Metcalfe stars as C.J., a TV reporter looking for a big break. Michael Douglas is District Attorney Mark Hunter, and C.J. suspects him of tampering with evidence to put innocent people away (seemingly for the hell of it).

With Metcalfe ostensibly the leading man, it's a welcome relief whenever Douglas is on screen, but even his presence doesn't do much to elevate this intelligence-insulting hokey.

Smug Doug? It's the return of the sinisterly smug Doug.

Page 36 of 39
Page 36 of 39
Ghosts of Girlfriends Past (2009)

Ghosts of Girlfriends Past (2009)

Douglas was the standout in the Matthew McConaughey Dickens redo. He sleazes it up royally as the ghostly uncle of McConaughey's heartless lothario (he's basically the new Jacob Marley), not afraid to send up his image by going 'full Hef' for the role.

Interest spikes whenever he's on screen, adding a genuinely funny note to the occasionally sickly sweet confection. Jennifer Garner and Emma Stone are also pretty decent in it as well, so it's mostly McConaughey who lets the side down.

Smug Doug? Ghostliness gives him the creative license to go all out.

Page 37 of 39
Page 37 of 39
Solitary Man (2009)

Solitary Man (2009)

Not to be confused with Tom Ford's A Single Man , Douglas has no problems playing with his public persona in this well-cast 'dramedy' (sorry). He's a successful car magnate who finds his life taking a nosedive when his 'romantic indiscretions' get the better of him.

Susan Sarandon, Jesse Eisenberg, Mary-Louise Parker and old chum Danny DeVito are among the supporting players in his life, but make no mistake, this is the Michael Douglas show.

Smug Doug? It's a credit to Douglas' charm that he makes sure this shameful cad is always likeable.

Page 38 of 39
Page 38 of 39
Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps (2010)

Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps (2010)

After years of rumours (followed by months of postponement) Michael Douglas is finally returning to his signature, Oscar-winning role: Gordon Gekko. It's 2008, and after a long spell in prison, Gekko has had plenty of time to think about the error of his ways.

He tries to warn the financial community of the impending disaster, while simultaneously aiming at a reconciliation with his daughter (Carey Mulligan), via her trader boyfriend Shia LaBeouf.

Check out the Total Film review here .

Page 39 of 39
Page 39 of 39
Matt Maytum
Matt Maytum
Social Links Navigation
Editor, Total Film

I'm the Editor at Total Film magazine, overseeing the running of the mag, and generally obsessing over all things Nolan, Kubrick and Pixar. Over the past decade I've worked in various roles for TF online and in print, including at GamesRadar+, and you can often hear me nattering on the Inside Total Film podcast. Bucket-list-ticking career highlights have included reporting from the set of Tenet and Avengers: Infinity War, as well as covering Comic-Con, TIFF and the Sundance Film Festival.

See more Movies Features
Read more
Emma Stone and Ryan Gosling in La La Land
The 32 greatest Los Angeles movies of all time
Jack Nicholson in A Few Good Men
The 32 greatest cinematic legal thrillers ever made
Adam Driver as Cesar in Megalopolis
Francis Ford Coppola wants to re-edit his divisive passion project Megalopolis to make it "more weird": "I own the picture, I can do anything I want with it"
Gregory Peck in To Kill a Mockingbird
The 32 greatest movies about dads ever made
Martin Scorsese
Martin Scorsese "went all Raging Bull" when asked why he doesn't watch movies in theaters anymore, but his answer is sadly relatable
Cillian Murphy in Oppenheimer
The 32 greatest biopics of all time
Latest in Movies
Solo: A Star Wars Story
Solo star Alden Ehrenreich hasn't completely ruled out a Star Wars return, but it sounds like it would take a lot to convince him: "It would have to really, really be the right version of it"
Robert Pattinson in The Batman
Clayface set photos tease a connection to The Batman, and fans are hoping that Matt Reeves' Elseworlds movies will merge with the DCU
Gimli in The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring
From passing on Lord of the Rings to Cleopatra's infamous budget, film fans are debating some of the worst mistakes in movie history
Jessie Buckley and Paul Mescal as Agnes and William Shakespeare in Hamnet
Chloé Zhao's first movie since Eternals is already getting Oscars buzz as critics call it "the most devastating movie I've seen in years"
Christoph Waltz as Henrich Harlander in Frankenstein
Frankenstein star Christoph Waltz is in favor of Guillermo del Toro's use of practical effects: "CGI is for losers"
A still from Jujutsu Kaisen season 3
You can watch Jujutsu Kaisen season 3 early – if you see this new compilation movie
Latest in Features
Borderlands 4 screenshot shows someone holding a weapon forward towards the camera.
"We tend to commit to the bit": Gearbox boss Randy Pitchford talks Borderlands 4, the evolution of looter-shooters, and $80 game discourse
Valor Mortis
Ghostrunner devs abandon parkour for Valor Mortis, a first-person soulslike that might explain why the rest of the genre follows Dark Souls' lead
A mech firing a machine gun in the desert in Menace
Menace is an XCOM-Warhammer hybrid that makes turn-based strategy feel like an immersive sim, and for the first time in my life I'm playing a game that seems made for me
Metal Gear Solid 5 showing Snake and Ocelot looking to the horizon in front of more soldiers
10 years later, Metal Gear Solid 5 remains a masterpiece that was never going to live up to its own hype
Dogtooth
The new Yorgos Lanthimos movie is getting rave first reactions out of Venice Film Festival, but I think it's worth revisiting his breakout feature Dogtooth before Bugonia hits theaters this fall
Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 Legacy of the Forge DLC showing Henry and two allies standing looking down
I built a home and ran a business in Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2's next DLC, and the added role-playing guarantees I'll spend another 70 hours in my current game of the year
  1. Kaser clad in black and Victor in white clash swords in Lost Soul Aside
    1
    Lost Soul Aside review: "We (don't) have Final Fantasy Versus 13 at home"
  2. 2
    Hell is Us review: "The lack of waypoints and explicit objectives is a double-edged magical sword that pulls me deep into its harsh world"
  3. 3
    Shuten Order review: "The Danganronpa creator's new multi-genre mystery feels like a forgotten DS cult classic I would have been obsessed with"
  4. 4
    The Rogue Prince of Persia review: "I roguelike but don't roguelove this freerunner – there's just not enough to stand out"
  5. 5
    Shinobi: Art of Vengeance review: "So close to being to a pitch-perfect revival of a classic series, but just can't quite line up the killing blow"
  1. Jacob Elordi as the monster in Guillermo del Toro's Frankenstein
    1
    Frankenstein review: "A classy, if somewhat safe, adaptation"
  2. 2
    The Fantastic Four: First Steps review: "An occasionally thrilling heroic adventure that sits safely within a B-tier MCU range"
  3. 3
    Superman review: "A triumphant reinvention and a promising start for the DCU"
  4. 4
    Jurassic World Rebirth Review: "An unscary sequel that needed a little more time in amber"
  5. 5
    M3GAN 2.0 review: "A bold sequel with a slightly underwhelming conclusion"
  1. John Cena as Peacemaker holds a gun to the head of a different John Cena as Peacemaker in Peacemaker season 2.
    1
    Peacemaker season 2 review: "Darker and sadder than the first year, but there's still a lot of fun to be had with the 11th Street Kids."
  2. 2
    Wednesday season 2 part 1 review: "Complex and exciting but weighed down by too many subplots"
  3. 3
    Alien: Earth review: "Arguably the franchise's strongest outing since James Cameron's Aliens"
  4. 4
    King of the Hill season 14 review: "Hank Hill himself has evolved into a much more open and accepting person"
  5. 5
    Eyes of Wakanda review: "A creative premise shortchanged by the runtime and Marvel bloat"

GamesRadar+ is part of Future US Inc, an international media group and leading digital publisher. Visit our corporate site.

  • About Us
  • Contact Future's experts
  • Terms and conditions
  • Privacy policy
  • Cookies policy
  • Advertise with us
  • Review guidelines
  • Write for us
  • Accessibility Statement
  • Careers

© Future US, Inc. Full 7th Floor, 130 West 42nd Street, New York, NY 10036.

Please login or signup to comment

Please wait...