Good direction, bad editing

Rating: 7/10 (19 December 2013)

It is always difficult to properly review legendary directors. There always comes a point where movie-making trends and styles have passed them by or the creative juices have simply stopped flowing. This is the case for Scorsese, at least by judging The Wolf of Wall Street.
All of his hallmarks are put to good use in the film. The immediacy and visual assault of the cinematography in particular was exceptional. The dark comedic touches are put to the forefront to great effect. I don't recall ever laughing out loud at Scorsese film before, but there are many such moments here.
The story itself is one of the oldest movie clichés, man overcomes humble beginnings, becomes wealthy, is seduced by money and power, is consumed by his excesses and ultimately redeemed.
The performances are intentionally bombastic and over the top and greatly add to the theme of excess. Jonah Hill especially loses himself in the role and delivers a lot of laughs and some depth to an otherwise shallow and one dimensional character. DiCaprio, while convincing as charismatic and flawed Jordan Belfort, grew tiresome over the course of the film as his character flies directly into the sun and then spectacularly crashes and burns.
Unfortunately the theme of excess extends to the length of the film as well; it is simply way too long. I felt like I was watching a director's cut in the theater. I know the general trend in movies today is longer run times, but at almost 3 hours it is just too much. What should be a highly entertaining two hour wild ride just drags in some places. The outlandish action and comedy scenes lose their bite in the last half of the film as the viewer is just numb from the assault at that point. The dramatic scenes are not well thought out and did not establish an emotional connection with the characters and their downfall as I should.
All in all, a very enjoyable, exciting film but it misses the mark in characterization and left me wanting less bombast and more meat in the story. I see an aging director trying to stay relevant and not wanting to make compromises this movie badly needs.