The Narrative Has Been As Consistent As It Has Harsh

MO Danny DeVito (left), Humphrey Bogart (above, far left), and Michael Douglas (right), all played less-than-lovable dealmakers on the big screen. DeVito was “Larry the Liquidator,” Douglas the money-blinded Gordon Gekko, while Bogart played Linus Larrabee, a businessman V worried that love might ruin a lucrative deal. ociopaths bereft of morals, hedonists THE NARRATIVE Other films that have unpleasant dealmakers blinded by greed, even serial killers armed include “Working Girl,” “It’s a Wonderful Life,” and with chainsaws – these are just a few of the HAS BEEN AS “The Family Man.” less-than-flattering ways dealmakers have CONSISTENT AS The portrayal persists on TV. In a Sopranos M&A AT THE S been portrayed on-screen. Dealmakers episode titled “Mergers and Acquisitions,” infidelity, play a leading role far less often than other financial IT HAS HARSH. intimidation, and a violently broken arm move the professionals – like rogue traders or immoral plot along. IES DEALS ON THE brokers – but in almost every instance they’ve been The narrative has been as consistent as it has painted with a similarly scathing brush. BIG SCREEN harsh. Deals on the big screen come at a human cost: In the 1954 classic “Sabrina,” a lucrative merger COME AT A love, morals, or jobs. The men who make them – and hinges on an engagement between the children of they are almost always men – don’t balk at the steep two wealthy families. The choice facing Humphrey HUMAN COST – price tag. When they do, their professional lives and Bogart’s character is love or money – the heartless LOVE, MORALS, relationships take a hit. nature of the deal won’t allow both. It may be tempting to write off these story lines Richard Gere plays a fabulously wealthy JOBS and characters as fantastical. But these caricatures corporate raider in “Pretty Woman” whose can have real-life inspirations. Oliver Stone, Christian Bale (opposite, relationship with a prostitute, played by Julia top), as Patrick Bateman who co-wrote “Wall Street,” said Gekko was an Roberts, helps him discover a moral compass. By in “American Psycho,” the amalgamation of real-life corporate raiders. the end of the film, Gere’s character wants to save story of a murderous M&A Others might say the corporate-raider narrative banker. In the 1988 film companies rather than tear them apart – a move “Working Girl,” Sigourney is dated. But today, it remains difficult – laughable that infuriates his unrepentant business partners. Weaver (opposite, left) even – to imagine a film featuring a dealmaker who In “Other People’s Money,” Danny DeVito’s deal- plays a dealmaker who saves an orphanage, or a mega-deal that rescues a steals her secretary’s idea. making character is affectionately known as “Larry Tess, the secretary, is small town. When leaders and businesses highlight the Liquidator.” In “American Psycho,” Christian played by Melanie Griffith. the social value of their deal, many in the audience The two have one of Bale’s character is an investment banker specializing the film’s iconic are understandably skeptical. in M&A – and also a deranged serial killer. The exchanges: “Tess, this is Dealmakers have been cast as the villains slick-haired, cigar-puffing corporate raider Gordon business. Let’s just bury for decades. It will take bold and sustained the hatchet, OK?” “You Gekko, played by Michael Douglas, tells us in “Wall know where you can bury engagement, backed by meaningful action, to PHOTOGRAPHS: EVERETT COLLECTION, INC. / ALAMY; RÖHNERT/ULLSTEIN BILD, MONDADORI PORTFOLIO GETTY MONDADORI IMAGES BILD, RÖHNERT/ULLSTEIN ALAMY; / EVERETT INC. COLLECTION, PHOTOGRAPHS: PHOTOGRAPHS: PHOTO 12 / ALAMY; MOVIESTORE COLLECTION LTD / ALAMY STOCK PHOTO ALAMY STOCK / LTD COLLECTION MOVIESTORE ALAMY; / 12 PHOTO PHOTOGRAPHS: Street” that, “Greed, for lack of a better word, is good.” your hatchet?” change the narrative. 74 brunswick review · issue 14 · 2018 brunswick review · issue 14 · 2018 75 .

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