2013 - 180 minutes - Biography/Comedy/Crime
Director: Martin Scorsese
Country: United States
IMDB: 8.7Metacritic: 75
RT: 75%
EpicEnthusiast's Rating: 9/10
Watch this movie if you enjoy:
- crime comedies
- stories (loosely here) based on actual events
- Martin Scorsese
- Leonardo DiCaprio
Avoid this movie if you dislike:
(a couple very minor spoilers below)
That being said, great acting alone doesn't make a great movie. Another staple of Scorsese pictures is his fluid and compelling technique of storytelling. The above-mentioned narration from DiCaprio is one of a few different styles he used to move the story along in The Wolf of Wall Street. In a plot jam-packed with relationships, it was important to distinguish which ones were meaningful and which ones weren't. For instance, it was clear from the beginning that Belfort's first wife Teresea Petrillo didn't mean a whole lot to him, and so we fittingly didn't see much of her. There were a couple scenes early in the film, and one emotional scene when she finally catches him in the act with another woman, but Scorsese made sure that the audience saw much more of Naomi, the wife that Belfort really cared about. With her, a number of different highs and lows were put on screen. We saw the first time they met, their wedding, Belfort gifting her a yacht with her name on it, their compassion, their hatred, and everything in between. Like all the relationships in the film, emphasis was placed exactly where it was needed. Scorsese's variation of quick, punchy clips and drawn out, oftentimes painful scenes was essential to the story flow.
- profanity
- drug use
- graphic nudity/sexual content
- long films (three hours)
(a couple very minor spoilers below)
Heeeeeeeee's baaaaaaaacckk.
The Wolf of Wall Street marks director Martin Scorsese's first crime drama since his best director-winning The Departed in 2006, and his mastery of the genre is totally reiterated. Leonardo DiCaprio is back as his lead man for the fifth time, (Gangs of New York, The Aviator, The Departed, Shutter Island) and Scorsese's quintessential black comedy and narrated storytelling is as strong as ever.
In this film, DiCaprio plays the role of Jordan Belfort, one of the most infamous stock brokers of the 1990's. At just 22 years of age he got his first job as a broker and fell in love with the crazed world of Wall Street. He learns the ropes, develops an effective selling strategy, and finds his niche, only to be forced into a sleazy job selling penny stocks in Long Island when his firm goes under. He takes that office by storm, and eventually starts his own firm, called Stratton Oakmont, with Donnie Azoff (Jonah Hill). Cue the success, money, women, drugs, sex, and law breaking, and let the games begin.
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| Leonardo DiCaprio as Jordan Belfort |
Like many of Scorsese's crime sagas, The Wolf of Wall Street is driven by very strong acting. DiCaprio leads a great cast, and gives yet another dynamite performance as his voice over moves the story smoothly along. This role was similar to his in The Aviator, in that he had to balance a roller coaster of emotions while portraying the money hungry, drug-addicted, and sex-crazed Belfort. The depiction of Belfort (and the film as a whole) was intentionally over-the-top, and Dicaprio did a superb job. Is it enough to earn him his long-awaited Oscar? I don't think so, but that's partially due to the stiff competition this year. Among others, I think Bruce Dern in Nebraska, Chiwetel Ejiofor in 12 Years a Slave, and Christian Bale in American Hustle will have something to say about the best actor award, but DiCaprio should at least receive a nomination.
Also thoroughly impressive was Jonah Hill as Donnie Azoff. I must admit I was skeptical of Hill coming in, primarily because of seemingly insincere comedic films. But to be fair, I've yet to see Moneyball, where he's supposed to be very strong in a supporting role. Here, his comedic background was far from concealed, but he held up very well in a few serious scenes. He also put forth some fantastic quotations:
"You show me a pay stub for $72,000, I quit my job right now and work for you."
"Hey Paulie, what's up? No, everything's fine. Hey listen, I quit!"
"What are these sides, they cure cancer?!?!" (Max Belfort)
"The sides did cure cancer there, that's the problem, that's why they were so expensive."
The cast also featured a number of interesting cameo appearances; three of which were directors. Rob Reiner (This is Spinal Tap, Stand by Me, The Princess Bride) played Jordan's father Max Belfort, Jon Favreau (Elf, Iron Man, Iron Man 2) played Manny Riskin, a financial agent, and Spike Jonze (Being John Malkovich, Adaptation, Where the Wild Things Are) played Dwayne, an associate in Belfort's firm. Reiner, who has acted in over 60 films, was the strongest of the three in his first major role in over a decade. He had the impossible job of attempting to control his son Jordan and all the antics at the firm. Jon Bernthal, best known for his role as Shane on The Walking Dead, was very convincing as the drug-dealing muscle man Brad, and Margot Robbie coupled her astonishing physical appearance with some strong acting chops as Naomi Belfort. Not to mention a hilarious scene or two with Matthew McConaughey as Mark Hanna. The acting very much stood out, and was film's most redeeming quality.
Also thoroughly impressive was Jonah Hill as Donnie Azoff. I must admit I was skeptical of Hill coming in, primarily because of seemingly insincere comedic films. But to be fair, I've yet to see Moneyball, where he's supposed to be very strong in a supporting role. Here, his comedic background was far from concealed, but he held up very well in a few serious scenes. He also put forth some fantastic quotations:
 |
| Jonah Hill as Donnie Azoff |
"Hey Paulie, what's up? No, everything's fine. Hey listen, I quit!"
"What are these sides, they cure cancer?!?!" (Max Belfort)
"The sides did cure cancer there, that's the problem, that's why they were so expensive."
The cast also featured a number of interesting cameo appearances; three of which were directors. Rob Reiner (This is Spinal Tap, Stand by Me, The Princess Bride) played Jordan's father Max Belfort, Jon Favreau (Elf, Iron Man, Iron Man 2) played Manny Riskin, a financial agent, and Spike Jonze (Being John Malkovich, Adaptation, Where the Wild Things Are) played Dwayne, an associate in Belfort's firm. Reiner, who has acted in over 60 films, was the strongest of the three in his first major role in over a decade. He had the impossible job of attempting to control his son Jordan and all the antics at the firm. Jon Bernthal, best known for his role as Shane on The Walking Dead, was very convincing as the drug-dealing muscle man Brad, and Margot Robbie coupled her astonishing physical appearance with some strong acting chops as Naomi Belfort. Not to mention a hilarious scene or two with Matthew McConaughey as Mark Hanna. The acting very much stood out, and was film's most redeeming quality.
That being said, great acting alone doesn't make a great movie. Another staple of Scorsese pictures is his fluid and compelling technique of storytelling. The above-mentioned narration from DiCaprio is one of a few different styles he used to move the story along in The Wolf of Wall Street. In a plot jam-packed with relationships, it was important to distinguish which ones were meaningful and which ones weren't. For instance, it was clear from the beginning that Belfort's first wife Teresea Petrillo didn't mean a whole lot to him, and so we fittingly didn't see much of her. There were a couple scenes early in the film, and one emotional scene when she finally catches him in the act with another woman, but Scorsese made sure that the audience saw much more of Naomi, the wife that Belfort really cared about. With her, a number of different highs and lows were put on screen. We saw the first time they met, their wedding, Belfort gifting her a yacht with her name on it, their compassion, their hatred, and everything in between. Like all the relationships in the film, emphasis was placed exactly where it was needed. Scorsese's variation of quick, punchy clips and drawn out, oftentimes painful scenes was essential to the story flow.
 |
| Naomi denying access to Jordan |
This was also true of regular plot development. The three hour length of The Wolf of Wall Street is one of the the aspects of the film that has gotten some flak (certainly second to the very vulgar content.) While I think Scorsese's longtime editor Thelma Schoonmaker did her typical fantastic job, I can definitely see where some of the criticism is coming from. The story was filled characters and they needed a considerable amount of time to develop, but I can't deny that it could have been trimmed a bit. In particular, there was a sequence on the yacht where Jordan and Donnie were attempting to sail to Monaco with their wives and got caught in a tsunami-like storm. The captain warned them of the rough waters beforehand, and the whole shipwreck and rescue thing just seemed very out of place, and irrelevant to the plot. The unneeded scenes were small in number though, and the 180 minutes really flew by for me. Scorsese used a handful of action-packed montages to speed things up, and the original cut was over four hours, so it could have been much longer.
To conclude, The Wolf of Wall Street will someday be considered another classic from Martin Scorsese. It's very different in tone from his other crime sagas like Goodfellas, Casino, and The Departed, but it's every bit as entertaining. The characterization is top notch, the acting is award worthy, and the production is everything you'd expect from one of the legends of cinema. If you can handle the profanity and sometimes graphic content, it'll be the most fun you've had at the theater in a while.
-EE
As of January 9th, 2013, The Wolf of Wall Street is in theaters everywhere. Here's the trailer:
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