Director: Martin Scorsese
Writers: Terence Winter (screenplay) and Jordan Belfort (book)
Starring: Leonardo DiCaprio, Jonah Hill, Margot Robbie
The Wolf of Wall Street eats its way through your heart and then devours your morality; greed is not just good, greed is great.
Now, people who know me will say that I’m automatically biased towards the film because:
1. I adore Martin Scorsese…and I don’t mean that lightly in any way. I wish I could keep him in my pocket.
2. Leonardo DiCaprio is a God amongst men one of my favourite actors.
In a nutshell:
The Wolf of Wall Street is based on the book/memoir written by Jordan Belfort (played by DiCaprio) chronicling his rise to the top as a sharp-tongued stock broker on Wall Street during the ’80s/’90s, which he does in a less than upstanding manner.
Fair warning before you see this movie. Set aside a fair amount of time in your schedule, make sure you use the bathroom right before, get food and call your family and tell them you love them because this movie is 3 whole hours of debauchery. It’s basically Scorsese unbuttoning and spreading his arms as wide as he possibly can. I have to also say that he holds nothing back; if you’re not into seeing sex and drugs in an up-close and more than raw way or are just not fond of hearing the word f*** used excessively, then this movie is not for you………(Nah screw it. See it anyway. It’s Scorsese!)
I’m not sure what to pinpoint this movie as because it’s such a mixture of things but I can say that it is definitely one part comedy. There were moments where I laughed until I cried. It is elegantly directed by Scorsese and he shows off his seamless sequencing (very reminiscent of Goodfellas) especially in the scene where…well if you watched it you’ll know exactly what I’m talking about. He really works best with anti-heroes and they truly come alive in his hands.
Some of the dialogue reminds me a little of Tarantino in the sense that there’s an abundance of it but some of it isn’t conducive to the plot so much as it’s there to aid in developing the characters and your feelings towards them when they’re not “on show”. If that makes sense. You’re hoping that in some of the “quieter” scenes you’ll see a different side to these guys but the conversations are still as raunchy and over the top when they’re just sitting around.
Leonardo DiCaprio is phenomenal as Belfort. He’s riveting and most importantly, believable. I was blown away just by the energy coming off of him in the film. He’s my choice for the Oscar but there’s a lot of buzz around other big performances this year. Jonah Hill is also stepping his game up and is actually becoming an actor to keep your eye on.
What I would hate for people to take away from the film is that it’s condoning this kind of excess, simply because it’s masked by such hilarious comedy. I have to point out that (and maybe it’s done on purpose) you don’t really get to see the people that these men have stepped on or the relationships they’ve ruined, for a reason. Think about that for a second…if you saw the wreckage they left behind then you’d feel slightly more judgmental. But! It works to Scorsese’s advantage this way because it plays into the selfishness of the characters. Me, me, me, money, money, money.
At the end there’s a moment where the camera pans to a group of people, listening to Belfort speak and it’s uncanny how alike you and the people on the screen look; both audiences extremely captivated, eyes wide and mouths agape, by the entirety of his personality. Could the road to hell and eternal damnation look anymore appealing than it does in this movie?
The Wolf of Wall Street is unapologetic in every sense of the word. It’s as if Scorsese is handing you this cast of outlandish and perverse characters like a grenade that he’s already pulled the pin on. Another must-see in my opinion.
Fun thing to look for: The real Jordan Belfort makes a cameo appearance near the end of the film. (Introducing DiCaprio.)
What did you think of The Wolf of Wall Street?
Should Leonardo DiCaprio finally take home the Oscar?
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