THE WOLF OF WALL STREET (Martin Scorsese, 2013) ***

Rating: Null/10 (2 March 2014)

Considering its many affiliations with American HUSTLE (noted in that film's review), it is interesting to watch how in the former, the F.B.I. emerged as foolhardy in their undeniably well-meaning approach – while here they are treated more or less as the heroes of the day when their operation proves a resounding success! Anyway, much has been said of this latest Martin Scorsese/Leonardo Di Caprio collaboration – especially in how it treads the line of tastelessness for much of its 3 hour duration (with some of the admittedly over-the-top sex'n'drugs antics seeming to belong more in a grindhouse or even "Euro-Cult" movie from the 1970s!). Still, I feel this backlash (especially for the way such serious offenses as depicted in the film are treated in blackly comic terms) was itself extreme: just note how much attention has been given to the dwarf-throwing gag (the pros and cons of such a wild scheme are amusingly delineated just like any other business-related item!) but, seeing how it occurs during the very opening scene, one would expect the viewer to have totally worked it out of his system by the time the picture's end credits start rolling! Indeed, to Scorsese's credit, if the Jordan Belfort gang's scamming of both poor and rich people was dealt with so thoroughly – or, should I say, the rewards they reaped from it – these characters' fall from grace is at least as detailed and spectacular; so, in that respect, it comes off as a balanced evaluation of a particular lifestyle which, like it or not, existsand to which gullible people themselves contribute in a misguided attempt to increase their own bank account without having to work for it!
As for Di Caprio, his performance is indeed among the year's best and one of his own towering achievements – but, personally, I feel he was even better in THE AVIATOR (2004) and SHUTTER ISLAND (2010; for which he was not even Oscar-nominated!), both also for Scorsese. The film under review is up for just five Academy Awards, which rather shuts it out from winning any of the top categories – unless the AMPAS voters prefer the star to Matthew McConaughey in DALLAS BUYERS CLUB (another initially reprehensible real-life character dealing in illegal substances but, in his case, for the common good rather than self-gratification), which I sincerely doubt!; incidentally, McConaughey himself turns up here early on as the anti-hero's mentor and whose ritualistic hum to get him functioning on a daily basis is even worked into a song by the actor and the film's music director Robbie Robertson (ex-member of The Band and a Scorsese regular)!
Jonah Hill as the protagonist's sidekick is also shortlisted in the Supporting Actor category but, while his contribution is highly entertaining, there is little depth to the part (even less so where their other colleagues are concerned, who somehow seem stuck in the lower rungs of the firm despite its obvious flourish!). Di Caprio's role – being based on the book written by Belfort himself – is clearly much more rounded, then, especially since his intermittent narration is adamant that money and power (even more so when acquired at a young age and unlawfully) too often lead one on a self-destructive pathand the fact that he was able to rise again after 'doing time' is a testament to his talent for survival, if nothing else! To go back to its ties with American HUSTLE, the F.B.I. sequences necessarily recall those of Scorsese's earlier and superior GOODFELLAS (1990) – which suggests that its best (and funniest) moments tend to involve the after-effects of the copious intake of drugs, notably DiCaprio getting tongue-tied during a vital telephone call and his 'spastic' attempts to reach his luxurious car and drive back home. For the record, film director Rob Reiner appears as Di Caprio's colourful dad and Jean Dujardin is a Swiss Bank manager (to where the countless millions are literally transferred out of the federal authorities' reach). On a personal note, I should say that I was expecting to hate this going in but I have had to eat my words and admit that it was an enjoyable if (no pun intended) taxing ride...which, as soon as it was over, made me run to the medicine cabinet and pop a headache pill myself!