Scorsese's most cynical movie is still awesome

Rating: 8/10 (1 March 2014)

As a dedicated lover of cinema news of a new Martin Scorsese movie excites me as much as a new IPhone excites middle-aged tech hipsters. So naturally as soon as it opened in Australian cinemas I was at the first screening like an aroused cineophile moth. Three hours later I was still excited but feeling a bit deflated like I had just come down from a Quaaludes binge. Like all of Scorsese's work The Wolf of Wall Street is no lemon, it is a brilliantly made and an exhilarating cinematic experience but is also one of the most cynical depressing movies in his oeuvre . Probably the most constant theme in Scorsese's films is what it means to be a man. From the autobiographical Charlie in Mean Streets (1973), to Henry Hill trying to be accepted in the mafia (Goodfellas 1990), Jake La Motta's (Raging Bull 1980) wild jealously or the ultimate outsider Travis Bickle (Taxi Driver 1976), Scorsese's heroes are all flawed men who bring about their own fall in one way or another. Jordan Belfort is another flawed man unfortunately his flaws happen to make him utterly unlikeable. Jordan Belfort like Henry Hill is a real person. Belfort made a fortune in his 20s dealing in dubious penny stocks on Wall Street through his company Stratton Oakmont. In the films brilliant opening Belfort (Leonardo DiCaprio) to Elmore James' Dust My Broom brags about making $50 million in one year and shows off his mansion, Ferrari, yacht and the fact that he takes enough drugs daily to sedate Manhattan, Long Island and Queens for a month. For three hours we see Belfort's rise, success and fall (well slight fall) A lot of reviews I have read compare this film to Goodfellas and Casino (1995) and there are clearly a lot of similarities. The rise and burn-out dynamic, the breakdown of a marriage and the fact that Scorsese never tries to put any distance between the characters and the audience; he never attempts to make a judgement on their actions. For better or worse we are all along for every filthy detail of Belfort's high energy ride. What splits Belfort from Henry Hill or Ace Rothstein is he is ultimately a country club con artist rather than an alpha male crook. What is so disturbingly exhilarating about watching Goodfellas or The Sopranos (TWOWS writer Terrence Winter was a head writer) is that even though we are disgusted by the violence there is something seductive about watching an alpha male take the life they choose. As an audience we can live our own dark fantasizes of being a 'gangster' through Tony Soprano from the safety of our lounge rooms. Belfort though is not a gangster, he is a low level scumbag crook. When he comes in contact with criminal violence he calls the police for help. Watching Belfort and his mates is like watching a gang of high school jocks out of control. We envy his success and life but after spending a little bit of time with him we realise he is a giant deuce. At best we can feel self-pity for his own shallowness and his world view but mostly it is disgust and a level of hatred that we never had for Henry Hill or Nicky Santoro even if their crimes were far worse. Despite our dislike for the lead, TWOWS is still full of wildly entertaining moments. DiCaprio's crazy Fear and Loathingesque lemon Quaalude high seems to be getting the most acclaim and internet memes but for me (sick disturbed mind I have) the scene I laughed hardest for was when the Stratton Oakmont crew discuss the problems with hiring dwarfs for entertainment. It is a conversation that would make even the St Kilda football club look sophisticated in comparison. DiCaprio and Jonah Hill (who plays his best friend and work partner) have some great chemistry and some of the dialogue between them really does sparkle. With his boyish looks it really is a role DiCaprio was born to play. He may never be able to pull off DeNiro's rugged manliness or outsider qualities but as a cocky young stockbroker Scorsese could not have cast better. What is perhaps surprising is what Scorsese says about America in this film. In Taxi Driver, Travis Bickle says "All the scum come out at night" here they come out during the day. They are in the boardroom and not only are they not looked down on but they are celebrated. When Stratton Oakmont first begins to take off a journalist writes a scathing article about Belfort's practices in the Wall Street Journal, rather than spell the death knell for the business it brings hundreds to Stratton Oakmont's door wanting to join. Belfort sermons that money makes you a better person but it only leads him further down a sink-hole of depravity, for Scorsese to make this film after the romantic fairy-tale Hugo (2011) represents as fine a 180° between movie type as you will see by any filmmaker. When the law eventually catches up with Belfort he crashes down on soft pillows. "At first I was worried about going to prison but then I remembered I'm rich". Unlike Henry who has to settle for bad egg noodles or Jake La Motta who ends a bloated shadow of himself on the nightclub circuit Belfort ends still in demand selling his 'talents' as a self-help guru around the world. If the ending isn't cynical enough already the man introducing Belfort as the biggest bad-ass ever to a class of disciples is none other than the real life Jordan Belfort. The detective who busted Stratton Oakmont is seen afterwards still riding the subway to work.