Word: sterner
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...first three. Other People's Money is a raucous and zestfully acted story of the greenback, a cautionary tale about the Wall Street ethos and its impact on American business. Sterner, whose play draws from his own experience as a stock market investor, zips the audience from one witty scene to another, and he skillfully weaves the moral of the story into a string of exquisite punchlines. As a result, Other People's Money is both humorous and disturbing...
...Garfinkle, Sterner has created a hillarious incarnation of capitalist evil, a man so consumed with avarice that he programs his computer to tell him daily which shares "are the fairest of them all." Willis, who appeared in the original Off-Broadway production, gives Garfinkle an emotional presence to match his considerable bulk. Unlike Gordon Gekko, the smoothly detatched anti-hero of Oliver Stone's Wall Street, Garfinkle physically revels in the obscene amounts of money he is making. He pumps his arm, chews gum ferociously and hurls one-liners across the stage...
...heart Other People's Money is a simple morality piece, a clash of good and evil told in financial jargon. The only problem with Sterner's play is that it suffers from the Batman syndrome--as in Tim Burton's movie, the evil character has the best dialogue and so enjoys his wicked doings that the audience cannot help being drawn to him. Though Cain does his best to flesh out the "good-guy" model written for him, Jorgenson still resembles Wilford Brimley in a Quaker Oats commercial--he wants to preserve his company because "it's the right thing...
...Sterner, who lives in Brooklyn, may have more of a feel for New Yorkers than New Englanders. It is certainly true that the only other engaging character in the play is Sullivan, the Big Apple attorney. Scurria brings a relish to her role matched only by Willis, and the verbal duels between the two provide some of this production's most entertaining moments...
...annoyingly sappy subplot between Sullivan and her mother Bea (Barbara Orson) clogs the plot, but Sterner wisely devotes only a small portion of the play to it. And, although Other People's Money contains several preachy speeches in the second act, Sterner's restores some credibility with a cynical denouement...