We Have Seen This Movie Before-Maybe

Rating: 8/10 (8 January 2014)

Take 'Animal House', 'Glen Gary Glen Ross', 'Casino', and 'Wall Street', puree in a blender, then add lots of nudity and drugs, and you have a pretty good picture of this picture. The first thirty minutes is repeated throughout the next 2 1/2 hours. No one really changes their spots over the course of this epileptic frenzy of greed. Except maybe the FBI agent who dogs Leonardo DiCaprio and takes stock of himself at movie's end. The Wolf Of Wall Street excels in reaching new heights of outrageousness and personal degradation in the pursuit of money. It is hard to say whether Martin Scorcese is accurate or making a parody of the broker class. I lean toward parody. The director, as usual, brilliantly controls a vast, complex environment and draws excellent performances from his entire cast. The dialog is excellent, if vulgar, and recalls the 'Casino' style of exposition by Joe Pesci. So is this movie worth seeing? From the standpoint of style, yes. We have never seen human sin pushed to this level since maybe 'Caligula'. Ultimately, 'The Wolf Of Wall Street' offers nothing but obscene, if often hilarious spectacle. It is utterly contemptuous of anyone who would ever dare to invest in anything.