Di Caprio at his best

Rating: 9/10 (8 January 2014)

This movie is supposedly based on the true story of Jordan Belfort. The screenplay is said to be adapted from the book of the same title by Jordan Belfort (Wolf of Wall Street). Reprising the role of Belfort is the ever-talented and perennially Oscar denied Di Caprio. This is perhaps the best movie role played by Di Caprio, who has come a long way from the lover-boy role in Titanic.
The movie begins with Di Caprio joining a Wall Street stock brokerage firm that goes belly up in the late eighties "Black Monday" stock market crash. Belfort then joins a two-bit penny stock offering firm and turns it around. The first scene at the Penny stock firm is worth watching twice, as employees marvel at Di Caprio's sales pitch and perseverance in reeling in wary buyers. Scorsese is in his elements with amazing direction, as the movie showcases the rapid rise of Belfort into a multimillionaire who launches his own 'seedy' new stock brokerage company-'Stratton Oakmont.'
The female leads are ably played by Margot Robbie (as Naomi, Belfort's second wife) and Christine Milioti (Belfort's first wife). The stand-out star of the movie other than Di Caprio is Jonah Hill. He has come a long way from "Super Bad." While Money Ball was a great introduction to Hill's acting chops, this could be his ticket to Oscar glory. Hill reprises the role of Belfort's partner -in-crime with aplomb. Their scenes of sharing banned substances are both hilarious and sad at the same time.
Belfort soon realizes that the FBI are fast on his trail and makes more shady deals with Swiss banks to stash away his millions. While I don't want to give away the plot of the whole movie, this one by Scorsese is definitely worth a watch, once, if not twice. Oh, and how could I forget Matthew McConaughey. He plays the early career mentor for Belfort in a short but very meaty role.
Enjoy the debauchery and the depiction of Wall Street brokers. One aspect that is unabashedly missing from the movie is the perspective of Belfort's victims. I need to read the book by Belfort to see how true Scorsese was in 'adapting' this book into the movie. The movie is not family friendly and has way too many adult sequences and serious substance abuse. If Di Caprio does not at least get nominated for an Oscar for this role, then there must be something wrong with the Oscar committee.