"The world of investing can be a jungle."

Rating: 8/10 (4 November 2017)

Perfect, just perfect. I'm watching this movie just as the revelations of sexual abuse in Hollywood, epitomized by the flagrantly lascivious behavior of Harvey Weinstein, is bringing revelations by the dozens from former abused victims. It's reached the point as I write this that actors like Dustin Hoffman and Kevin Spacey have been outed, and lo and behold, Leonardo DiCaprio has been exposed for having employees under contract to his production company sign off on non-disclosure agreements so they don't reveal the type of language and behavior that occur during project development meetings. No doubt many of those meetings wind up like the debauchery fests on display in this film.
Not only that, but when the elites of the movie entertainment industry rail against the greed and the selfishness of the one percent, and mount their pedestals for gay rights equality, the filmmakers here have no trouble castigating the poor schleps who have to work at McDonalds, and depict a gay orgy gone wrong at Jordan Belfort's (DiCaprio) swinging pad. The hypocrisy on display here is so self evident that it's embarrassing. At least they didn't have the gall to take on the Second Amendment here, that would have been the icing on the cake.
And leading the charge is DiCaprio himself, taking mean spirited delight in brandishing his no-holds barred assault on making money and taking no prisoners. Not to mention the ever self righteous Rob Reiner as Belfort's old man, lecturing Jordan on the proper way to treat 'his penis and her vagina' on the younger Belfort's wedding day. Nor did he have any trouble referring to natives of India as "...dots, not feathers". There, I knew there was something else; liberals decrying racism go racist when it suits them just fine. The fall back position is that it's in the script, or they're just actors or comedians doing a job. Yeah, that's principle on display alright.
I guess by now you can tell that I hated the film, but it was actually pretty well made to elicit this kind of response from me. It was also pretty funny at times. particularly when it devolved into moments of self parody. That's why I can give it the rating I did and still excoriate the hypocrisy involved. I have to admit, as much of a phony I think DiCaprio is, he did a superb job and Jonah Hill was outstanding as well. Probably the most fitting scene that illustrates the absurdity of the greedy and mendacious lifestyle on display here was when The Naomi sank in the ocean waters with a little chop, one of the best moves one might catch this side of The Titanic.