The Loudness War

Rating: 5/10 (8 February 2014)

There is a phenomenon in music broadcasting called "The Loudness War" (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Loudness_war): In order to attract maximum attention, music is compressed to constantly play at maximum volume. Alas, this reduces the dynamic range, leading to music that sounds flat as it lacks any variation. This is exactly how "Wolf of Wall Street" felt to me: Three hours of (almost) constant shouting at maximum volume. If you're fine with this, Wolf of Wall Street is probably an entertaining movie. It is certainly well done and has its own style. If you appreciate variation and complexity in the pace and style of a movie, however, you better avoid this one.