The Wolf of Wall Street (Friday Film Review)

The Wolf of Wall Street

Director: Martin Scorsese
Writers: Terence Winter (screenplay), Jordan Belfort (book)
Starring: Leonardo DiCaprio, Jonah Hill, Margot Robbie
Release Date: December 25, 2013 
DVD Release Date: March 25, 2014
Rated: R for sequences of strong sexual content, graphic nudity, drug use and language throughout, and for some violence.

Synopsis from Amazon:

Revered filmmaker Martin Scorsese directs the story of New York stockbroker Jordan Belfort (Leonardo DiCaprio). From the American dream to corporate greed, Belfort goes from penny stocks and righteousness to IPOs and a life of corruption in the late 80s. Excess success and affluence in his early twenties as founder of the brokerage firm Stratton Oakmont warranted Belfort the title – “The Wolf of Wall Street.”

Sex. Money. Power. Drugs. Brace yourself for an outrageous true story from legendary filmmaker Martin Scorsese. Leonardo DiCaprio stars as a young stockbroker hungry for a life of non-stop thrills where corruption was king and more was never enough. His rise to power earned him the title The Wolf of Wall Street. Together Scorsese and DiCaprio deliver a story of American excess.

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MY THOUGHTS:

I love Leonardo DiCaprio. I just do. And I have for many, many years, like, from back in his Growing Pains days. I loved that sitcom so much when I was a little girl and was immediately attracted to that baby-faced boy playing the homeless kid the Seavers took under their collective wings. Since then I've followed his career through What's Eating Gilbert Grape to The Basketball Diaries to Catch Me if You Can to The Departed (seriously, how freaking sexy is he in that movie? I just. For real). So I was, of course, thrilled to hear that Leo was hooking up with Scorsese once again.

The Wolf of Wall Street is a movie about excess and about how that excess can strip away your very soul. It follows Leo playing the real life character of Jordan Belfort who is chasing the American dream on Wall Street in the late 1980s. Belfort is married to a hairdresser who, since the two are in their early 20s at the beginning of the movie, are probably childhood sweethearts. Just when things seem to be happening for him at the big company he works for, disaster strikes, leaving him without a job. He eventually gets in with a shady trading company who work with penny stocks. I'm not going to lie, finance and stocks and that ilk just aren't my thing, but the film made it pretty easy to follow even if my brain stopped braining a couple of times when they started getting into the technicalities of the stockbroker world. Regardless, I understood that penny stocks were pretty shady making Leo's business that he starts and continues to grow throughout the film also pretty shady. Of course, it isn't long before the government starts looking into the business.

The cast of this film was amazing. Leo was just spectacular was the fairly despicable Belfort. I wish the academy would just give this man an Oscar already. How many times as this dude been nominated? I think people forget that he really is a good actor just because he's so easy on the eyes. Jonah Hill is also great in this film. It's fun to see the young actor really branch away from the stoner comedies that made up his early career (not that I don't still love them--Superbad cracks me up every time). He plays Belfort's right-hand man, Donnie, and is very good at being a disgusting human being. Matthew McConaughey was memorable as Belfort's would-be mentor at the first firm, and Rob Reiner was hilarious as Belfort's dad.

Speaking of hilarious, parts of this film truly are so funny. While there were some pretty serious moments, this film really is a comedy which is different for both Leo and Scorcese. I laughed out loud a few times and really did enjoy this film for the most part. That isn't to say it was without some issues, however.

My biggest complaint about this film is one I often have of Scorcese's films: the way in which women are portrayed. In this film women are just props. They are the naked creatures that Belfort and his cronies screw and discard (and there is a lot of female nudity in this film--and no male nudity). They are there so these men have something to snort their coke off of. Leo's first wife--because of course she is wife #1 (the curly-haired brunette)--seems to be a good woman during the 3 minutes of screen time that she gets, but wife #2 (the gorgeous blonde) is a golddigger whose sole purpose is to spend Belfort's money. There is, like, one woman who works as a stockbroker in the film that gets maybe 30 seconds of screen time. Nobody is portrayed very positively in this film. For the most part every single person is an asshole, so I'm not saying that I want some angelic woman to have a role, but it annoys me when women aren't even viewed as people in movies. They were literally just naked eye candy. I'm going to stop there because this rant can go on for awhile.

The other issue I have is simply just how long this movie goes on. The middle part of the film which is mostly just Belfort and Donnie doing copious amounts of pills and coke...and women. The film sags in the middle and would have benefited greatly from having at least half an hour trimmed from the final product. The story could have been told in 2 hours, easily.

Overall, I did enjoy The Wolf of Wall Street. It's a well-made, well-acted comedy that is certainly worth your time. The film is shot in an entertaining manner with Leo sometimes speaking directly to the audience, and the film really pops with bright colors and fast shots. If you are a fan of Leo and Scorcese, you'll probably enjoy this one, as well, but be prepared for a film with no redeeming characters, copious amounts of drugs and female nudity. Also, for those who find swearing offensive, don't watch this one. I believe I saw that this film breaks the record for number of times the f-word is used. It didn't bother me, and I barely even noticed it, but I tend to talk like a trucker so...

I'm going to leave with you this amazingly awesome GIF from the film: