The Wolf of Wall Street is among Scorsese's best

Rating: 7/10 (6 December 2013)

The Wolf of Wall Street is a loud, flashy, and unfathomably vulgar movie populated by a wide variety of repulsive and narcissistic characters. In the hands of a lesser director, it could have easily ended up being unpleasant and unwatchable. However, thanks to acclaimed director Martin Scorsese's clever satirical touch and a witty script that surprises at every turn, The Wolf of Wall Street is a wild and uninhibited thrill-ride of a movie that's hard to forget.
The movie tells the true story of Jordan Belfort (Leonardo DiCaprio), a man who went from struggling to pay his bills to being one of the most wealthy but immoral and corrupt stockbrokers in the country. As he leads an increasingly reckless and dishonest life, Belfort quickly transforms from a law-abiding citizen to an uncaring white-collar criminal.
Leonardo DiCaprio may have finally found his Oscar-winning role playing Jordan Belfort. Although his character is far too selfish to be likable, DiCaprio's spirited performance makes Jordan endlessly fascinating in his depravity. Jonah Hill gives an equally impressive performance as Donnie, Jordan's best friend and the co-founder of his firm. Hill's loud-mouthed and often inconsiderate behavior as Donnie makes for some of the funniest scenes in the movie.
Although many of the scenes are far from light-hearted, The Wolf of Wall Street is ultimately a comedy. The characters' wildly reckless and irresponsible actions provide most of the humor. One particularly funny and memorable scene involves Jordan trying in vain to reach his car and drive home while under the influence of drugs he had taken. Unable to stand up and walk to the car, Jordan is forced to slide and drag his way across the floor, all the while yelling incoherent slurred sentences.
Running in at 165 minutes, The Wolf of Wall Street is not a short movie by any means. Although it's always enthralling, there are a few scenes that could have easily been cut to shorten the running time. One series of scenes that wasn't necessary involves Jordan Belfort getting into a dispute with a butler over $50,000 in cash that went missing. The scenes are entertaining enough, but they have no relevance to the story as a whole and aren't essential to the movie.
The Wolf of Wall Street is not the sort of movie one would expect a 71 year-old man to direct. Director Martin Scorsese is far from an ordinary 71 year-old man though, and with The Wolf of Wall Street he has crafted his most lively, compelling, and outrageous movie in years.