Study on Excessivity

Rating: Null/10 (11 November 2014)

The Wolf of Wall Street is a superb movie on a professional level. The actors, topnotch. The visuals, magnificent. The pacing, incredibly long as the movie is, flawless. The music, great. The costuming, great. The script, great. It's an all-around proof that Martin Scorsese knows what he's doing.
It's also a surprisingly easy movie to follow and keep up with, given that it is three hours long. A lot of this is due to Leonardo DiCaprio, whose sheer sleazy charisma fills and steals every scene he's in. And he's in most of them. It's also surprising how identifiable he can make his character, even though the sole purpose in Jordan Belfort's life is to convince other people to hand over their money to him and then do drugs and hookers. That's it, no redeeming qualities whatsoever, but somehow DiCaprio makes you understand what drives this man to be like that. It's certainly not pleasant to watch to world through Belfort's eyes, but it's fascinating.
Though it must be admitted that really the only flaw in the movie is the fact that Belfort apparently has no soul. Making the bad guys look identifiable and even admirable is a common theme in Scorsese's movies, but whereas in, say, Goodfellas, the gangsters are at least somewhat loyal to each other and function according to a code of loose honour, Belfort is just a straight cesspool of filth. A well-groomed and dangerously charismatic cesspool, but the fact remains. It is absolutely intentional, I'm sure of it, but it keeps the movie from being as great as Goodfellas, for example. At least in my opinion.
Still, a magnificent film from a master of visual media. Easily worth watching.