Antagonist no match for stellar performance by DeCaprio

Rating: 6/10 (12 January 2014)

The Wolf on Wall Street has some noteworthy scenes, and was entertaining to a certain extent, but somehow the filmed lacked to come together to one cohesive film. Belfort, seems to become a "criminal" practically overnight. I believe this was too sharp of a turn for a three-hour film. Belfort become "hooked" on Wall St early in the film, creating somewhat of a disconnect between him and his new wife early on. This "disconnect" caused the movie to be overly focused on DeCaprio throughout the entire film. I felt like his business partner and friend, Donnie Azoff, was a miscast, and, although enjoyable to watch, he doesn't look or seem like a stockbroker, or someone involved in this type of business. Although DeCaprio provided a stellar performance, the development of his character was only partial, and I felt like I was left hanging in the air. What happens to his ex-wife? What does she do? What does Brad do? What does the FBI agent do?
These characters are not "strong" enough to "stand up" against DeCaprio. There should have been like a Robert DeNiro FBI agent, or someone that would challenge DeCaprio. The fact that the "weak" antagonist made the suspense leak out of the film. So what happens if he is caught? There were a few friendship moment with his partner. I felt like there were only a few moments of that I was engaged in the movie. And, then he rats them out? Totally against the character, this inconsistent character makes the story just seem inauthentic, even for a drug addict.