Definitely not a fugazi but the real effin deal: Scorsese doing what he does best

Rating: 9/10 (7 February 2014)

Well damn! This was most definitely not a fugazi but the real effin deal: Scorsese doing what he does best, telling the tale of seizing the American dream by any means necessary, be it legal or illegal, and the inevitable downfall that comes after trying to get too much of it.
He's done it so well so many times before from "Godfellas" to "Casino" to "Gangs of New York", that you could say that Wolf of Wall Street is just repetition of the same formula – but it's a formula that works so damn well, it's just an absolute pleasure to watch. "Wolf of Wall Street" would be well worth the three hours even just for the performances: yes, di Caprio is on the roll as the rags-to-riches Jordan Belfort, but the film is filled with amazing performances in the smaller roles from McConaughey's manic mentor-like figure in the beginning to Jonah Hill as Belfort's best friend, pulling himself to major league from his previous mostly comic relief characters.
But what makes WoWS perhaps even more relevant and worth while is the fact that it does not tell the tale of mobsters like so many of previous Scorsese bravuras, but of people in the finance business – of people who have had way more influence on the daily lives of people and the society at large than any criminal kingpins. And what sets Wolf of Wall Street apart from many other movies looking at the finance sector is that it doesn't at all try to analyze how the system works or show how the money is being ripped off. McConaughey's character Mark Hanna sets the tone in the very beginning by telling that Wall Street doesn't give a f**k about the people who invest their money – it's all about getting the dealer's share of the trade as it happens, no matter how crappy the stocks you are selling really are, and then heading for the next kill. With that notion, WoWS is free to focus on elaborating on the general debauchery of the people deep in the testosterone-coke-power-trip. And with all the dwarf-tossing, Ferraris, coked-up parties and nude hot bodies it does this so enjoyably that you can't wonder if certain people are going to look at this film as a how-to guide to dollar-fueled decadence – just as the real Jordan Belfort did look up to Gordon Gecko of "Wall Street" as a role model for his real-life version of the film.