The Wolf of Wall Street

The last few Scorsese pics left me a little disappointed. I had begun to think Marty had become a 'gun for hire' and that his brilliance may have been spent (his earlier works were some of the best movies ever made). I attended a screening of The Wolf of Wall Street this evening, and was expecting to be unimpressed. I am happy to say I was completely blown away. This pic is Marty at his best. I laughed, I cringed, I related (with fond memories as well as a bit of guilt) and I TOTALLY believed every unbelievable moment. A good book, a great screenplay and a delightful cast were formed and molded into what I believe should get Scorsese a best director Oscar, and likely a Best Picture Award for the movie. Leo DiCaprio has grown into a versatile actor and his creation of this super hero dirtbag's roller coaster ride in this crazy (true) story is really honest and delightfully entertaining. Jonah Hill pulled out all the stops too and this is definitely his best work. Thank you Mr. Scorsese for delivering the goods so brilliantly!

Brilliantly acted, superbly written and as one would expect from a picture by Martin Scorsese, it is a masterclass of directorial craft.

Showy when it needs to be, but also quiet and contemplative. "The Wolf of Wall Street" is the equivalent of something like "Good Fellas" or even more so "Casino" but set in the world of finance. The suits might be more expensive but the people who wear them are just as sick and violent as their street-mob counterparts. Sardonic in humor and unflinching in showing the depravity of its characters, it marks somewhat of a different approach to the world of stock-trading than Oliver Stone's "Wall Street".

Where Stone seems more in line with Bertold Brecht who considered theater (or in this case film) a moral institution, does Scorsese take the position of the omnipresent observer of the dark side of the American and in many cases the human dream.

Leonard DiCaprio gives another stellar performance of great intensity and even greater tragedy while this tale of corruption, greed and self-righteousness unfolds.

It's a vast panorama that shows how during the last twenty-five to thirty years gullibility as well as our innate greed make all of us accomplices in this never-ending pyramid scheme far away from any reality.

One could almost hear Scorsese's clerical background come to the fore again, according to which nobody is without sin, and therefore we are all susceptible to corruption.

It is our decision on which side we choose to live that makes the difference. For every individual but also society as a whole.

It's no surprise that Scorsese is associated with the gangster genre with films such as The Departed, Goodfellas and Casino, of which the last two are possibly the best pure examples of the genre. In Goodfellas the gangsters are dangerous but they operate on a more underground level, in Casino they practically run a major city and can do whatever they like. The gangsters were and will always be a part in America's system. Now, the gangsters are not just accepted by the system, but are considered to be an integral part of it. In the first two films, the gangster is threatening and dangerous, but avoidable. In The Wolf of Wall Street, he's calling to hustle you at home and you don't even know it. Some people view The Wolf of Wall Street as a glorification of Jordan Belfort's lifestyle and want to be like him, as Scorsese portrays this life by its nature, enticing. That's the way it works, and it's impossible to portray it accurately without showing how a charismatic man like Belfort can suck an unsuspecting person into a world of money and fame. The film though, shows us just how empty and destructive that life can be.

There is an undeniable similarity between the instantaneous joy, energy and euphoria that we have while watching The Wolf of Wall Street and how Jordan Belfort lives his life, this is a movie where the director skillfully mixes form and content to create an experience which is as hyper and as instantly ecstatic as the life of its flashy and opportunistic characters.

The direction by Martin Scorsese which still has infectious energy and power is impeccable, there is no other director who has mastered pacing like he has. This is a three-hour movie that moves lightning fast and always manages to keep the audience invested in the story throughout the whole duration. Each scene is packed with so much visual information, and it is fast paced and quickly edited, which complements the general tone of the film. The cinematography by Rodrigo Prieto is gorgeous as well and displays an optimal color palette throughout the whole film. Each shot also looks precise, even during some of the more chaotic scenes.

The script is fantastic, filled with many great and memorable lines of dialogue. Every character has a well-defined arc and motives, and the story is given proper breathing room to blossom. The performances are also exquisite, especially Leonardo DiCaprio who gives one of the best performances of his career and portrays the opportunistic nature of Jordan Belfort's character with great commitment as you can see a lustful, hedonistic and impulsive sex & drug-addict man who only wants to have more fun. Supporting him with equal passion is Jonah Hill as Donnie Azoff, Belfort's sidekick, and even he manages to make a mark of his own. Margot Robbie plays Naomi, Belfort's second wife and she does an alluring job in her given role. Matthew McConaughey is in for a very short duration as Mark Hanna, Belfort's mentor, but even in that little time, he is the show-stealer and he dominates the screen unlike anyone else.

Martin Scorsese and Terence Winter set out to create a film about the Wall Street excess, and by definition, it contains an excessive amount of everything, such as cursing, sex, nudity, drugs, alcohol and partying. But the film is not really about those things. The story of The Wolf of Wall Street boils down to money, that "most-addictive drug" Belfort speaks of, and not just what it can buy, but what it can do to people. Not just how it changes one's lifestyle but the effects it has on one's morals, beliefs, and values, and how it can effectively change not just how a person thinks and feels but how they operate at their core.

With a collection of truly incredible films, The Wolf of Wall Street stands out as one of Scorsese's best films, my personal favorite and by far his most humorous film to date. He truly went all out and it paid off in a hilarious satire on the reverence of money, drugs, women, and the admiration of a criminal money-maker. The Wolf of Wall Street is maddening cinema that's already high on coke but still continues to snort more white powder every 5 minutes for 3 hours. This is a fascinating vignette of excess, greed, abuse and decay and it's one of the best movies of the decade and surely one of the most entertaining movies ever made.

Based on the true story of Jordan Belfort (Leonardo DiCaprio), from his rise to a wealthy stockbroker living the high life to his fall involving crime, corruption and the federal government.

As of now (February 2014), this film sits at an impressive #57 on IMDb's list of greatest films of all time. Using that as a jumping off point for this review, we will have to scale it back a bit. Whether the film should be on the list is debatable, but certainly not within the top 100 -- it is neither that good nor among director Martin Scorsese's best work.

Along the same lines, the Oscar nomination for Best Picture is a bit much. While there is no denying it was probably among the ten best films of 2013, with some incredible acting and more than adequate cinematography and editing, the very fact it has no chance of winning makes one question why even nominate the film at all. (Of course, without nine nominees, we would be back to having the reasonable number of five...)

Scorsese received a best director nomination, and this strikes me as more understandable. He managed to assemble an impressive cast and tell a story that is both compelling and entertaining, without trying to put some moral tag on it. Whether or not the viewer thinks this is a glorification or denouncement of the acts depicted is up to them, as the film itself is blank (in the best way).

While on the subject, could the drug use and sexuality have been toned down? Absolutely. And there is a good argument that they should have been (especially the non-stop sex, which comes across as gratuitous and only adds more minutes to this lengthy financial epic). Another argument says the events are extremely unlikely and exaggerated at times. And this is probably also true; but the film is accurate to the memoir, not reality, and this is Belfort telling his story with all the embellishments that come with it. If you want just the facts, read the court transcripts.

Leonardo DiCaprio is nominated for best actor, and this is a choice that is understandable and yet hard to rally behind. He truly becomes Belfort, and probably makes the man out to be even more wild than he was. That deserves a nomination. But this is not DiCaprio's best role (he has also done a fine job portraying Howard Hughes and J. Edgar Hoover) and not one he deserves the win for.

Jonah Hill, on the other hand, was amazing and deserves to win his supporting actor category. Being up again Jared Leto, he probably has no chance, but Hill has come a long way in a few short years from a lovable doofus in "Superbad" to a formidable actor in his own right. At first, "Moneyball" seemed to be an anomaly in Hil's career, but he showed the world he could do even better when he became Donny Azoff in this picture. Incredible.

Whether Terence Winter deserves Best Adapted Screenplay for this film is unclear without having read the book. Such a nomination seems fair, though the win is hard to say without more familiarity. I am surprised no nominations came for cinematography or editing, which are strong in their subtlety. But oh well.

Of the film's five nominations, it may walk away with one win (Winter) or two at most (DiCaprio). More likely it will walk away empty-handed. The film is not flawless (we could go on about how awkward the soundtrack was) and may or may not go on to be memorable for much more than its nudity and pervasive cursing.

The movie Leonardo DiCaprio should have gotten an Oscar for. His portrayal of the character is perfect. The movie is well-written, leaving no details out of the original story. Martin Scorsese never fails to impress. One of the only example where the movie is better than the book. The movie never gets boring, I could watch this anytime.