Not his best.

Rating: 6/10 (4 January 2014)

The Wolf of Wall Street. Before entering the multiplex, I had heard so much about the film and so many diverse opinions that it was impossible to have any preformed mindset and thus I went it only with the expectation that one would normally associate with Martin Scorsese. But after the movie I felt Leonardo Di Caprio had carried his role much better than the great director. I did not love the film, I did not hate the film, I just about liked it, let's say, just to indicate, a 6.5/10 probably.
And I absolutely loved certain things about the movie. For example, the entire crawling sequence was a master-work; I loved it to bits, right till the choking part. I loved Leo's first encounter with the FBI on his yacht, especially him throwing the lobsters. Pure quirky pleasure. I loved how they showed Jordan's relationship with his employees. I loved the use of 'Mrs. Robinson'. I loved the showdown between Jordan and his wife, and the way it gets physical and cold. I loved Jordan's training call for his first employees. I love the sequence when he got arrested by the FBI and how that was shot. But that's about it.
Scorsese has a tendency towards biopics or part-biopics, as evident in most of his major and minor works like Taxi Driver, Raging Bull, Hugo, The Aviator, etc. and this is definitely another, but I would like to call it a part-biopic as it does not do justice on many accounts. Scorsese focuses himself on the hedonism exclusively and goes on a wild ride through the exuberances and extravaganzas of Jordan Belfort et al. It is true that it is remarkable that at 70 the man can still make such a potpourri of a film that has insane drug abuse, universal fetish for money and addiction to sex (to a very mild degree, though they state it as that, it's more American than addiction), it does pack a lot of energy, but at the end it fell flatter than it should have. I will now talk about what makes me say so but before that let me say I felt 30% of the movie was excellent, 40% just about there and the rest misses the mark completely.
Before anything else, I had major issues with the screenplay. What was that scene where Donny and the tough guy fight over a briefcase full of laundered money with a police car behind them, and the tough guy keeps looking behind (to add insult to injury) ? That entire sequence was horrible and reeked of stupidity. And then Jordan's and his father's conversation? The content was not bad, but the way his father spoke, it seemed like he was very uncomfortable doing it. And then the lame sequences between Jordan and the Swiss banker? What was that, humor? Felt like Hangover material. The actors majorly disappoint, with Donny, Jordan's second wife, tough guy with Slovenian chic, the FBI agent, the Swiss banker, all putting in poor performances. Leonardo was the standing figure in the ruins, delivering a sparkling and energetic performance as Jordan Belfort or Wolfie. I couldn't understand Donny, because he acts too dumb for a right hand man to a money laundering institution. And speaking about money, trust me the topic of how Jordan's company earned money was never shown! Only a few hazy clues as '20 million in pink leaflet shares', 'Steve Madden's IPO is being inquired', 'Choke them with Steve Madden's share' is just not good, the movie never even once suggested that Jordan was doing something that amounted to such huge sums of money. It is not logistically possible to sell such huge number of shares worth cents to generate so much revenue. It is too much of superficial movie and probably that was the point Scorsese was trying to make, and I do feel he put Jordan's life into a positive perspective to baffle the audience, and make them sympathize and enjoy with him, thus making them realize that all of us are hedonistic in a way or other.
There are two purely subjective points also that made me zone out of the film. Firstly, it was a drag towards the end. Sequences were stretched, and strangely, the insignificant ones, which made it feel very ordinary at times. And secondly, I too am of the opinion that Scorsese left his take on Jordan's lifestyle a bit corrupt, and I don't mean that it should have a moral compass, but considering his idea was always to focus on the hedonism to generate mass aversion towards the ugly excesses, his treatment ends up doing exactly the opposite, it glorifies hedonism just a little bit extra than that would sit well with me. And I cannot agree with it for the sake of entertainment or twisted subversion.
In my opinion, this doesn't come close to the eccentric electricity of Taxi Driver, the uncompromised rage of Raging Bull, the power addiction of Goodfellas, the chaotic humor of After Hours or the paradoxical hypocrisy of The Age of Innocence. This is, in my books, only funny and sometimes brilliant, but as a movie, really not Scorsese's best or even a very good film, for that matter.