A powerhouses of a movie but with an amoral heart

Rating: Null/10 (21 October 2014)

Imagine the ambiance and characterisation of "Wall Street" combined with the first person narration and manic energy of "Goodfellas" and you begin to anticipate the content and style of "The Wolf Of Wall Street", but nothing quite prepares you for the scale and frequency of the drug consumption (notably methaqualone and cocaine), the nudity and sex (full frontals galore) and the profanity (an estimated 569 versions of the f-word), not to mention abuse of a goldfish and a misdirected piece of ham. No wonder the film was independently funded. Which mainstream studio would want this product? But director Martin Scorsese, now in his 70s, has given us another powerhouse of a movie. It was nominated for five Academy Awards although it did not win any.
Set over no less than three hours, this is the true-life story of American stockbroker Jordan Belfort and based on his memoirs of the same name. Leonardo di Caprio, in his fifth collaboration with Scorsese, gives a storming performance in the eponymous role with some wonderful 'inspirational' speeches. The impressive cast-list includes Matthew McConaughey and Jonah Hill as fellow money-men and Margot Robbie as Belfort's second wife, while cameo roles include Rob Reiner, Joanna Lumley and even - in the final moments - Belfort himself.
This is a black comedy which lampoons both the acquisition and experience of being rich. It could be argued that the film is moral in that it records the reality that Belfort served 22 months in federal prison for a "pump and dump" scheme that led to investor losses of approximately $200 million. But ultimately I was saddened by the movie because it represents the perpetrators of this huge scandal as amiable buffoons rather than ruthless crooks and it has nothing to say about the misery suffered by so many gullible, small-time investors.