A Great film which holds the audience on tenterhooks

Rating: 10/10 (10 January 2014)

I had been eagerly awaiting this film as soon as I saw the trailer, which I believe i watched numerous times. A film which promised another collaboration between Martin Scorsese and Leonardo DiCaprio, without the restrictions of a major production company being involved was surely a great film in the making, and it did not disappoint.
Scorsese has directed this film directly, and has spared no expense in showing the extravagance which surrounded Jordan Belfort throughout the period of his life which the film depicts. The way in which Scorsese has changed Belfort's memoir's into a screenplay is brilliant, and surely must be in contention for best screenplay throughout the awards season.
The cast, in particular DiCaprio, were absolutely fantastic. I had my doubts about Jonah Hill being in this film but he was also brilliant in his portrayal of Donnie Azzof, his comedic timing was brilliant, and some of the one liners which he produced, many of them were improvised, were utterly hilarious. The way in which Hill and DiCaprio act together is very impressive, they have clearly gelled together well. My only criticism in terms of casting is that Matthew McConaughey's character is not in the film more, he played the role brilliantly and Mark Hanna was a great character to watch but he is only in the first 30 minutes of the film which was disappointing.
Although the film is very 'full on' in terms of sexual content and drug use, I believe that it was a huge gamble for Scorsese to make this film so full of this content, I believe that it paid off as I left the theater thinking about all of the things that Jordan Belfort did, personally I wonder how he is still alive.
All in all, I absolutely love this film, It was well worth the wait and I believe it should do very well during the awards season. It is well worth putting aside three hours of your life to watch this film, you will not be disappointed.