"..one of the most controversial movies of the year, or possibly of all time."

Rating: 8/10 (8 July 2014)

If you are so familiar with Scorsese's works, you would be aware that he always attempted to bring out great movie for each decade. In the 70s, he gave us Taxi Driver, the flawless masterpiece Raging Bull in the 80s, Goodfellas in the 90s and The Departed in the 2000s. Could The Wolf of Wall Street be possibly his own movie classic of this decade? Or would it be Hugo? I cannot exactly decide, both are inarguably great cinemas. But nonetheless, "Wolf" is top notch – well directed, well written, well-acted, well edited and on top of all that, it is a story well told. Come on, take this ride. It is a lengthy movie which runs for three hours, but it will never tire or bore you out for the tiniest bit, and you have to witness the irresistible fun that Scorsese has for us through "Wolf", and what could I say? Scorsese has done it again.
"Wolf" tells a story of Jordan Belfort (Leonardo DiCaprio), basically depicting the rise and fall of him, which involves crime, corruption and the federal government. DiCaprio is in his top form here. His energy, his charisma, his charm, all tells a story of an awfully fantastic acting performance. Is this Dicaprio's best performance thus far? Probably. But still, despite being swaggy, 'dicky' and everything, I thought his performance is only near-perfect, but not perfect. In my humble opinion, Dicaprio's work for Wolf is not the best of the year. Chiwetel Ejiofor or Matthew McConaughey delivered better performance for 12 Years a Slave or Dallas Buyers Club respectively.
"Wolf" also pictures an impressive performance by Jonah Hill. Jonah plays Donnie Azoff, who is Belfort's right hand man and also his closest friend. It is pretty comical, that his presence in the film reminded me of Joe Pesci. Jonah never opted for Pesci's acting style, absolutely, but such recollection could be placed on the fact that "Wolf" is a Scorsese's picture. Australian actress Margot Robbie wonderfully played Belfort's wife, Naomi the duchess. Her thick accent, her energy, her anger, have charm and sense of realism all around. McConaughy and Dujardin too play their parts very well, despite having a short period of screen-time.
The screenplay by Terrence Winter is buzzing like that deadliest bee ever alive and too crazily energetic. Boom! Boom! Boom! All bred from its awesomeness, it never stops. Packed with fun and also funny, funky, clunky, and above all, unnatural.
"Wolf" is one of the most controversial movies of the year, or possibly of all time. I find it disturbing that some labelled "Wolf" as "doesn't pass the morality test" or "A celebration of villainy or immoral behavior". I was like: Seriously, not even close! I am so positive that this group of people has failed to discover the bigger picture of "Wolf", and have miserably missed out the aspects that Scorsese is trying to portray through "Wolf". I humbly believe that it is more of a denunciation, instead of a celebration, and corruption, greed and lies, all lead to one ultimate outcome: downfall.
"Wolf" is brave, competent and provocative. Scorsese is 71 in age, but what he has had pull out here is an amazing feat. Any other directors would have easily messed out "Wolf", and Scorsese's exploitation and exploration of "Wolf" is so fascinating and spot-on. All this shows his love and dedication for movies, he hits the jackpot again, but this time with a wolf, The Wolf of Wall Street.
Score: 3/4
(Cinematicmadness.blogspot.com)