Starts out with a bang, but seems to misfire somewhat after the first 20 minutes

Rating: 6/10 (24 August 2014)

The Wolf of Wall Street starts off strongly; we immediately get an insight into what becomes of Jordan Belfort's life once he hits the big time - the start of the film was entertaining, exciting and fast paced. The early scenes where Jordan makes his first steps into becoming a broker with McConaughey were great - again these scenes were fast paced coupled with sharp dialogue and I felt that the film was progressing nicely. The film started to lose momentum once Jordan decides to go it alone. I'll attempt to explain some of the problems that I have with this film;
This film clocks in at nearly 3 hours long and the problem was that at times it felt longer. If you're really engrossed in a film then 3 hours will fly by, but that's not the case with this film. The film seemed to be very repetitive (numerous scenes involving drug taking, sex, profanity). I've got nothing against any of these things, but when they seem to become a forerunner for the film at the expense of both plot development and character development it does become a bit worrying. To me, it seemed a lot of the times that everything involving Belfort's character was over-done (how many times do we need to see him wasted? How many times do we need to see him pop pills, take drugs etc). It was interesting at first in order to understand his gradual descent from hero to zero, but again it became repetitive and just seemed to act as 'filler' for the already over-long running time.
There were things I liked about this film; first thing is that it's very stylish. Scorsese has a gift for making films his own - he has his own style and had I not known anything about this film before I started watching it I'd have been pretty certain that it was a Scorsese vehicle. The editing, directing, and music were all top notch.
What really saves this film is the acting and full marks go to DiCaprio, Hill and the gorgeous Margot Robbie. Hill and DiCaprio were perhaps a little over the top at times, but I'd rather that actors put too much effort in rather than too little. Another big factor working in favour of this film is that despite its misgivings it is at least entertaining and wasn't boring (I only looked at the time once during this film and for me watching a 3 hour film that isn't bad).
The Wolf of Wall Street is a good film where it's only real faults are in its somewhat repetitive nature, it's over-long running time, and it's also a bit thin on character development. However, if you're a fan of Scorsese's earlier films like Goodfellas or Casino then you'll probably enjoy this film. If you're not a Scorsese fan or a fan of the aforementioned films then this film is unlikely to change your opinion.