What A Hell Of A Ride!

Rating: 10/10 (14 January 2014)

The Wolf of Wall Street is a film directed by Martin Scorsese, and stars Leonardo DiCaprio, Jonah Hill, Margot Robbie and Kyle Chandler, and revolves around the life of a man named Jordan Belfort, a charismatic stockbroker who turns his normal, everyday life into one of incredible riches, drugs and beautiful women, whilst engaging in illegal activities.
Martin Scorsese... God dammit, he's a bloody incredible director! I forget about him for a while, and then every couple of years, he pops up again with another fantastic film! The Wolf of Wall Street is one of his finest, boasting a fun and charismatic cast, a wonderful screenplay by the fabulous Terence Winter and an elaborate, irresistible story about greed, corruption and a whole heap of money!
Scorsese's direction, in my mind, is what makes this movie brilliant. In the hands of any less of a director, this film could have been an absolute mess. Thankfully, Scorsese brings life to this elaborate, smart film. The way he tells the story is captivating, with DiCaprio commonly breaking the fourth wall and delivering monologues to the audience directly. The camera never seems to cease in movement, giving this movie a life about it, and making you feel like the party, the fun, never stops at any point. Scorsese also allows a lot of long shots, which really add to the film. He gives DiCaprio time to shine as Belfort, as the camera rolls for seemingly endless periods of time without a cut. Again, with any other director, these touches to this film could have been compromised, could have made the whole picture into a disaster. But no, Scorsese delivers in every way possible.
DiCaprio gives one of the, if not his best, performances of his life. He's energetic, fun, and ultimately, becomes this character of Belfort. He completely throws himself into this absurd, strange world of rich tight asses, and holds the audiences attention for incredibly long periods of time. And surprisingly, DiCaprio is actually incredibly funny within this film! There were points where I laughed out loud thanks to DiCaprio's delivery! Jonah Hill, as well, gives a lavishly awesome performance as Belfort's right hand man, Donnie Azoff. Again, he dives in and becomes this obscene, strange character, and gives the performance of his career. Smaller roles include Margot Robbie, who plays Belfort's 2nd wife Naomi, who is perfectly cast! She's beautiful, strong and matches the role perfectly. Matthew McConaughey has another small role, but his is certainly memorable, and he performs brilliantly. There is certainly not a single role I can criticise, so I'll move on!
This film can very well be cut into thirds. The first two thirds of this film, the rise of the king that is Jordan Belfort, are easily the most entertaining, before the final third slows down and sends us on our way. The first act ushers us into this world of stockbrokers, and allows us to get our head in the game for this 3 hour long journey, before the 2nd act really picks up the partying aspect, and we get to see Belfort flaunt his sudden wealth around. It's wonderful, to be completely honest! Who the hell hasn't wanted to be rich?! Because after this fun, awesome film, I certainly do! Seeing Belfort spend his money, and even discard it without second thought is honestly one of the most exhilarating things I've seen all year, for some unknown, strange reason! Seeing a rich person just do rich things is somewhat fun! It's exactly what I wanted from The Great Gatsby, instead of a stupid sappy love story that maintained the final hour. Fortunately, The Wolf of Wall Street never makes that turn, and stays fun and exhilarating for the vast majority of it's running time.
In it's final hour, the film takes a slower route, and begins to heighten the inevitable stakes. I'm going to avoid spoiling the entire film for those who haven't seen it, but I will say that despite the fact that the film turns a dangerous corner, I still enjoyed the ending. I appreciated where Scorsese took the film, and where he sent it off. It was a surprising change of tone, but one that I felt was completely necessary and didn't subtract at all from the rest of the film.
Ultimately, The Wolf of Wall Street is one of the best movies I've ever seen. It's DiCaprio at his more daring, at his finest. Jonah Hill at his finest. Scorsese at his finest! Who would've thought a 71 year old could make such an exhilarating, ecstatic movie?! The film is funny, smart and very engrossing, and not for one second was I sucked out of the film. One of the best movies of the year, and one of the best of all time.
10/10