A Nuclear Explosion of Drugs, Sex and Greed

Rating: 10/10 (8 January 2014)

There is probably no other movie you could find that better captures decadence in the world of the extremely wealthy quite like "The Wolf of Wall Street". A film that might not stand among the ranks of "Goodfellas", "Taxi Driver", "The Departed" or even "Gangs of New York" as one of Martin Scorsese's best films, but stands among the very best of 2013. Its a mess, but what an exhilarating mess it is.
A 3-hour epic of gluttonous drug-use and explicit sex as documented by a truly repulsive human being. The fact is, this is how the workplace functioned back in the early 90's. The fact is, Jordan Belfort consumed more Quaaludes to make Hunter S. Thompson blush and engaged in enough ravenous sexual escapades to make Caligula faint. It seems almost unbelievable to assume that these events actually occurred, but to some degree, they did. If that is the case, then Scorsese truly crafted a masterful biopic.
DiCaprio embodies Jordan Belfort perfectly. He soars far beyond any performance in film this year. Jonah Hill is also mesmerizing as Jordan's partner in crime, Donnie Azoff, who is a certified pig. Matthew McConaughey especially steals the show as Mark Hanna, a meticulous master of the stocks, with a strange habit of beating his chest to something similar to an Indian tribal chant. The female love interest Naomi, played by Margot Robbie, plays it sexy and cunning as a really charming tramp who mothers Belfort's child.
The rest plays out as you would expect. Its a long, dizzying journey of T and A with copious amounts of cocaine sprinkled on top. But its a journey that is worth taking. Bravo to Scorsese, DiCaprio and everyone involved in the creation of this masterpiece.