beyond the obvious it's quite a ride

Rating: Null/10 (20 March 2019)

Power...money...greed...corruption...sex; these materialistic elements and more are rolled into one in this biographic portrait of Jordan Belfort, an ambitious and initially idealistic young stockbroker who works on Wall Street in the late 1980s, until he finds quick success and decides to branch off on his own. His success comes at a price though, and he quickly gets plunged into a reckless lifestyle where the money rolls in and the party never stops, even when the federal government gets wind of his underhanded dealings. To say that this is not for all tastes would be a drastic understatement; overlong, unapologetically profane, and unabashedly sleazy, this never attempts to sugarcoat the behind-the-scenes world of Belfort's lavish, hedonistic lifestyle, but despite how off-putting it is at times, it's never dull, with crafty direction from Scorsese (very similar to his work in Goodfellas), enough twists and turns in the story to keep things from becoming redundant, along with a great cast and knockout performances from DiCaprio, Hill, and Robbie. A good film that's for select audiences only. ***