Goodfellas Meets Wall Street Meets Biting Black Comedy

Rating: 8/10 (21 January 2014)

" The business of America is business " screams an old cliché but like so many clichés it's based on reality . Is there much difference between a gangster and a stockbroker ? It's the sign of a very poor mobster who can't make a profit for his firm and it's the same with the stock market . Thankfully capitalism is legal and every other socio-economic alternative has been a disaster for humanity but one can't help equating the stock exchange with being the same as gangsterism , supply and demand without any moral or humanitarian mores and one wonders how American auteur Martin Scorsese might bring a story of Wall Street to screen ? If there's a problem with Scorsese he sometimes remakes the same type of film as in THE KING OF COMEDY and BRINGING OUT THE DEAD are remakes of TAXI DRIVER . likewise GOODFELLAS was remade as CASINO .One can't help thinking the temptation to make a story featuring an amoral capitalist could quite easily end up becoming a gangster film set in the world of high finance . " All my life I wanted to be a white collar criminal "
In effect this is how the film works to a large degree but Scorsese is on top of his game so having such a large similarity on a narrative and visual level with GOODFELLAS and CASINO doesn't matter because for a movie lasting three hours it just flies by . Once again Scorsese uses the directorial technique of intensified continuity which is film critic speak for in your face direction . All the Scorsese hallmarks are here , breaking down the figurative fourth wall , garish and glossy cinematography , constant camera movement , pumping intrusive music etc etc . It's all here and you've seen it all before but it's so well done that none of this matters and remains totally compelling as once again the master director brings us Shakespearean tragedy in its most American and cinematic form
To be fair to Jordan Belfort he didn't torture or kill anybody and his methods of gaining economic profit only differs from the rest of the finance sector in that they're illegal . Actually in amongst the excess of drugs , sex and foul language the storytelling doesn't make a very good job in telling the audience the difference between legal and illegal stockbroking but we're asked to take on board that Belfort isn't that bad because he's played by DiCaprio . Fair enough and he does a good job as a shallow and greedy boy who seduces stupid greedy people in handing over their cash . The rest of the cast also go along with the loud colourful style of the movie but was I puzzled by the one scene cameo by Mathew McConaughey in a pivotal role and kept expecting his character to make a reappearance at some point in the film which doesn't happen . . it'll be very ironic if as I expect McConaughey beats DiCaprio to the Oscar this year . A British audience might also find the casting of Joanna Lumley distracting in much the same way as Ray Winstone in THE DEPARTED , but the cinema audience I watched this with spent much of the running time laughing at the grotesque blackly comical scenes as they played out on screen . Mission accomplished Marty , although one can't help thinking an inclusion of a scene where Belfort passes a card warning a colleague about something is trying a little bit too hard to paint Belfort in a better light than he deserves . I mean it's not like anyone would be queuing up to listen to his lecture seminars after seeing this film is it now ?
This is one of the better films from the long , prolific resume of Martin Scorsese , possibly his best since GOODFELLAS but one that will probably be very under rewarded at the prestigious award ceremonies due to one of the strongest film line ups seen in many years . It also won't convert anyone in to being a new found Scorsese fan but for those of us who's enjoyed his familiar language of cinema to tell a story about the American dream turning in to a nightmare it's proof once again that he's Hollywood's greatest living director.