Some of Scorsese's past film successes

Rating: 6/10 (19 January 2014)

The Wolf of Wall Street's problems do not stem from the technicalities of filmmaking. Though the storytelling half of Scorsese's job that could have been executed much better, at least he forms the shell of a quality movie. His films typically have a masterwork of film editing; the editing for Wolf is no exception. It is like DiCaprio is snapping his fingers the whole for the three hours. The look of the film is another strength. The juicy cinematography looks as if it was painted with the infinite money made my Jordan Belfort.
Some of Scorsese's past film successes find themselves drilled into The Wolf of Wall Street. The first person point of view from Goodfellas and Casino is put to good use, it even grows in this film. DiCaprio not only narrates the majority of the film, but also pulls a Woody Allen and looks directly at the audience and speaks to us like we are having a private conversation with Jordan Belfort. His obsession with wealth and drugs damaging his life and family echoes from Raging Bull, but this works against Wolf. In Raging Bull we saw Jake LaMotta beat his wife, but we also felt his guilt. There's a scene in Act Three that feels like a direct homage to Raging Bull, but Wolf lacks the humanity of that film. Scorsese wanted to isolate us from the world in Wolf like he did in Taxi Driver, where we understood the violence Travis yearned for, but here Wolf fails to tug at the same cords with greed as Taxi Driver did with loneliness.
At the end of the day does the greedfest of The Wolf of Wall Street matter? No. If it were not so hollow, it could have been a fun movie, but I didn't even buy into the "enjoyment." People around me were laughing at the slapstick comedy, but I did not find most of it funny, not even DiCaprio's raved physical comedy scene in the last section of the film. I shrugged my shoulders after the first thirty seconds and then the scheme continued for five more minutes. Not a bad film, a bad narrative, and a poorly communicated film. If I retitled the film, it would read: The Disappointment of Wall Street.