The Wildest Three Hours of Cinema

Rating: 9/10 (26 December 2013)

Jordan Belfort was one of the most successful stockbrokers, but how did he get there? When he did get there, what did he do with the wealth he had so quickly accumulated? Martin Scorsese's newest film, The Wolf of Wall Street, recounts this shocking true story, exposing us to the monsters that our economic system- capitalism- has produced. To truly understand Belfort's (played by Leonardo DiCaprio) sheer insanity and criminality, what we witness herein is an energetic, 3-hour narrative that's fueled by sex, drugs, profanity, and hilarity. This is an exemplar of the paths the moguls and magnates pull through in order to finally reach affluence.
As usual, Leonardo DiCaprio delivers another powerful performance; in fact, this could be his best yet. He's high, he's inebriate, he's irate, he's desperate or ambitious, he's dejected, he's just deranged- the list goes on. The Wolf of Wall Street is fitting proof of this brilliant actor's range, but it also proves how utterly pathetic it is that he's still not carrying a few, or at least one, Oscar's. In this case, he goes all out, and he goes to lengths and depths we haven't seen him touch yet. In addition, he's absolutely hilarious, discovering the perfect vehicle to showcase his comedic talent. What more can the guy demonstrate to grab the Academy's attention? Then again, since he hasn't won an Academy Award yet, it totally substantiates how essentially unimportant those awards are anyways. It evinces that actors shouldn't feel doubtful of their own talents just because they can't call themselves an Oscar or Golden Globe (to a lesser extent) winner. Jonah Hill also brings his A-game, giving us yet another remarkably unhinged character to exist next to DiCaprio's as we see them participate in some of the most downright outrageous sequences. In all honesty, the entire cast shines as we sight the likes of Matthew McConaughey, Kyle Chandler, Jon Berenthal, Jean Dujardin, and much more.
The screenplay is undoubtedly another profound strength of the film's, providing us with some of the most ingenious dialogue this year. Furthermore, it consistently brings out the richness of these characters- their personalities and relationships, incorporating irony and/or farcicality to each and every segment. Again, Wolf doesn't only cast us into the lowest depths of humanity and wrenches us until we cry foul (in consequence to the individuals' despicable acts), but it's also one of the funniest movies I've seen all year, absolutely overshadowing most of the comedies we received these past twelve months. It comprises a plethora of memorable and incredibly amusing scenes that left the whole audience bawling with laughter. Like American Hustle though, those scenes blur the lines between what's hysterical and what's just disturbing and dispiriting. Without those boundaries and sensibility, almost every scene is bound to induce laughter of some kind.
As with Scorsese's numerous other projects like The Aviator and Goodfellas, a considerable portion of the protagonist's life is revealed with the plot's progression, spanning decades. With that, we begin to sense the 3-hour duration, and it's not exactly that the film drags out in any particular spots or hits a sluggish pace in general, it's merely that we're reliving a single man's history, advancing through the high's, low's, and more relaxed stages of his maniacal life. Understandably, a viewer would begin to feel the lengthiness after so many wild events have already transpired and yet it seems like the story is leading us to another one.
Now, many critics have panned the production's willingness and, perhaps, eagerness to delve into persistent lunacy. Of course, what we see is excessive and imprudent, but that's surely what the film is attempting to convey in the first place- these lavish lifestyles are intemperate beyond remorse and the decadence seen means exactly that never is it all apparently enough in our culture - the copious money, the gorgeous women, the sensation of drugs, and whatnot. They just don't feel that temptation to quit the debauchery and leave it all behind for betterment. Anyways, The Wolf of Wall Street is definitely one of the best films of this past year and another exceptional entry in Scorsese's filmography. Considering DiCaprio's presence, Scorsese's directorial involvement, and a riveting story to top it off, the real question isn't "why should I go see this movie?" The question is: why, in any possibility, shouldn't I?