from a Christian perspection

Rating: 8/10 (27 April 2014)

To Christian viewers, if you must watch this film, have something else on hand to turn your attention to during multiple scenes. The Wolf of Wall Street frequently borders on pornography, among exhibiting other forms of depravity. Everything that needs to be followed in the plot line can be understood simply by listening for the few, rare words that are not profane or crude.
The Wolf of Wall Street serves merely as evidence of human depravity. There is really very little else to it. Directed by the famous Martin Scorsese, this film bears several of the director's trademarks, but somehow manages to make every one of the beloved traits burdensome to viewers. For example, Scorsese is well-known for his use of slow motion to emphasize the many aspects and emotions of particular circumstances. In this film, slow motion seems to only draw out this overly-lengthy, repetitive film.
Another instance of tediously detailed and slow filming tactics can be found during a scene in which the two lead characters, Jordan and Donny, fight each other while so high that they cannot even stand. It would seem that Scorsese, who is generally understood to have no real interest in accumulating money, wants viewers to be repulsed by the effects of greed and follow-up depravity.
From the first ten minutes of the film, however, this goal is accomplished. That the audience must continue to be disgusted for nearly three more hours by the same decadent debauchery is most certainly overkill. The characters in the story hardly seemed to be rattled by the extensive wickedness portrayed in the film, and it would seem that by the end, viewers are also likely to have grown accustomed to it because they are subjected to it for so long.
Scorsese takes the directorial "show, don't tell" approach to exposing the worst of humanity very seriously. It is difficult to find a single line that lacks profanity or crude phrases. There are no significant lines that offer any sort of point for the audience to remember. Rather, the dialogue just serves as a relentless example of how caught up people are in immorality.
Only one character seems, in any way, to maintain that a lifestyle of excess and recklessness is unacceptable. This character, FBI agent Patrick Denham (played by Kyle Chandler), is never glorified or backed. Rather, after accomplishing his goal in the film, Denham is shown riding a subway home, unsmiling, continuing to live his unremarkable life. His performance is certainly the most complex and impressive in the entire film, but that they may simply be because he has no competition.
Overall, the acting in the film is as disappointing as the directing is. The all-star cast, including Leonardo DiCaprio, Jonah Hill, and Matthew McConaughey, hardly lives up to expectations. It may not be the actors who are to blame, however. Most of the storyline has the characters high on adrenaline, sex, or hardcore drugs. They largely just have to pose in ways that suggest they are drugged, or move in repetitive, sloppy manners evidencing that they are drugged. With such little emotional depth, the actors have very little performing to do.
It seems that the entire story is written to be so bland, though. Without a single likable character, the biggest accomplishment of this film is its unique ability to make absolutely nothing look appealing. The lavish parties, tons of cash flung about, and overtly intimate sex scenes never once appear original or inviting. All of the power obtained by the main characters, even when used for forms of "good" is utterly unattractive. The downfall of the leading character, Jordan Belfort, is easily overlooked because it appears there was nothing for him to lose anywayevidencing how unappealing even the high points of his life were.
Such is the monotony of this dull, despicable film. From the commonality of the aesthetics (see every mansion portrayed of late in film and every beauty recently photographed) to the forgettable soundtrack, it is unclear why this production has received any special attention at all.
The only apparent reason for The Wolf of Wall Street being heralded as well-done is its complete allegiance with the concept of post-modernism. One of the main ideas of post-modernism is skepticism about traditional structure, resulting in the finding of ways to work outside of the typical. As this film plods onward, it functions as resisting the expectations of viewers. The film is impervious to consequence, meaning, or climax, which are all a part of the preferred structure of modern audiences. No statement is ever made regarding what is and isn't acceptable; according to this things, everything might be permissible, and it's up for every individual to interpret.
From the standpoint of the Christian faith, this film is only valuable as an illustration of what hell represents. As 2 Thessalonians 1:9 describes, those who are in hell are "punished with everlasting destruction and shut out from the presence of the Lord". Men are not to fear that which kills the body, but rather that which overtakes the soul and also kills the body (Matthew 10:28).
The Wolf of Wall Street illustrates the work of the Evil one who destroys souls. Greed, debauchery, flippant immorality, self-absorption, and an uncontested perspective that values only "me" and "now" are all soul-gripping realities that turn men into beasts. This film drives home the point that humanity is debased, decrepit, and determined to neglect all things righteous. It may, in spite of its poor production and futilely obscene story, propel people to wonder if perhaps there is another way to live. The question could lead to the only true answer: Jesus. But that would certainly be the work of the Spirit, not the film. (christiantomatoes)