My name is Jordan Belford.

Rating: Null/10 (27 December 2013)

Now when Oliver Stone's Wall Street premiered in 1987, the character Gordon Gekko ushered in the physical manifestation of greed in American consumerism. Gekko would dismantle and profit from a company, simply because it could be destroyed. Now Jordon's Belford's novel "The Wolf of Wall Street", follows a similar direction, less having to do with the business aspect of his illegal dealings, and more to do with who he was. In Martin Scorsese's latest project, Leonardo Dicaprio delivers the Gordon Gekko of the 21st century, technically the 20th, but really who cares in that respect. The rage and ecstatic enthusiasm Dicaprio has always brought forth in his characters has once more proved remarkable in this recent collaboration with Scorsese. As Belford Dicaprio captures a charisma that is both fascinating and addictive in this character study of a film, as it is made clear from the constant voice-over narrations made by him that all he wants is money, and as the story progresses, mostly through the characters, Belford's quest for power is shown with so very little restraint that you think maybe Scorsese bribed a few Studio execs to get this movie made.
Starting out with a simple marriage, and eventually moving up into the big leagues, Jordon Belford began his climb to the top when he founded Stratton Oakmont, a boiler room which marketed penny stocks. It didn't take very long for Belford to see the weaknesses in such a small and minuscule business, giving him one chance after another to profit off the gullibility of simple minded people with fraudulent sales stocks. In time, Jordan formed a cheeky but wise team of swindlers with enough gull and enthusiasm, though not much brains at first, to reach higher and higher levels of monetary gain. His right hand man was Donnie Azoff (Hill), a businessman just as mad, and just as self-destructive as Jordan Bell, and most of this praise goes to the stellar and energetic performance Jonah Hill delivers as he once more breaks from the conventional comedian role into more zany and out of the box characters, following his Oscar nom in 2011 for Moneyball.
Aside from this film being a satire and black comedy, it really is not meant to be funny, according to Martin Scorsese, and that comes from his initial desire to show the darkest aspects of humanity within his characters. In a way, The Wolf of Wall Street shares so much similarity with Scorsese's 1990 film Good Fellas that as Belford from time again takes us through the story, breaking the fourth wall to add a little humor, it becomes very clear by the confidence, the profanity, and the smug arrogance is the spirit a confident Ray Liaotta had shown in one his role as Henry Hill, who in a way shares so much with Dicaprio's Jordan Belford that eventually it becomes clear what the story is about. And that is the characters and the examination Scorsese takes in portraying this darkly comedic Greek Tragedy. One of the most fascinating aspects that is prevalent within this film is the total lack of restraint it has when giving a gritty and in your face style kind of humor, sadness, and drama to that matter. There rarely goes a scene without Belford popping Quaaludes, or stepping into an orgy where the scene is cynically narrated by his remarkable honesty, and even when any modesty does come from this connoisseur, it is solely for the means of his self-centered agenda of greed and buffoonery.
The wolf of Wall Street says a lot about not just American culture, and its many flaws, but it really speaks about much deep-seeded questions regarding the dark nature within human beings. It questions the notion of greed, and it presents it in the manner in which it remains unsolved. In a Hollywood Reporter interview, promoting the film, Leo Dicaprio elaborated on the nature of greed, and although it is essential to our own survival, it still begs the question as to whether it can be conquered. It has been a part of the survival of not just our species, but really any living organism that thrives. Martin Scorsese in the same interview weighed in on the matter, believing that we as human beings are still far from ever solving that predicament within our biological construct, while also acknowledging that each of us individually have qualities within us that are detestable to even the most lenient of moral standards. Now although this notion of greed seems almost impossible for any species to conquer, especially one like ours which is self-conscious, it certainly is a unique question regarding both the positive and negative aspects of it. In Wall Street Gordon Gekko says, "Greed, for a lack of a better word is good", explaining the capabilities it holds when implemented. If one could really sum up the notion of greed is really that it is a double edged sword. It remains essential to our survival on any kind of level, be it social or physical. On the other hand, it can corrupt us to the point where the very satisfaction we get from it has lost all meaning that it becomes numb within its indulgence, thus making as empty and without purpose.