An amazing comedy of 2013

Rating: 9/10 (2 July 2014)

This iconoclastic, black with a capital b comedy is the best Hollywood satire since Showgirls. A jocular epic that bitingly indicts excess at its highest level possible within contemporary society. DiCaprio kills his performance as the titular Wolf, an abominable creation that deserves to be mentioned in the same breath as De Niro's finest collaborations with Scorsese. Formally the veteran director is as inventive and unruly as ever, hyperactively deploying muscular tracking-shots, aspect ratio shifts and unconventional compositions like it ain't no thang. Stylistically the result is marginally less dazzling than say Scorsese-opus Casino but the tonal command throughout is masterful. One criticism is that the film is less engaging in its third-act comedown but that feeling quickly dissipates as Scorsese uncannily saves his pièce de résistance for WOWS' final shot.