Just shy of vintage Scorsese.

Rating: 8/10 (25 January 2014)

It's rare to see an R18+ motion picture get a cinematic release these days, what with it not being financially ripe and such stuff, so it's fantastic that Martin Scorsese's tale of debauchery and greed didn't get shunned by the mainstream cinemas. After the family-friendly (and superb) Hugo, Scorsese has returned to his fascination of crime with this recount of stockbroker Jordan Belfort's financial rise through illegal trading and how he threw his millions away on drugs, parties and, well, whatever the hell he liked. It's a crazy ride, and the master director digs deep into his bag of tricks – trippy zooms, unbroken takes, toying with aspect ratios and camera lenses – to keep the pace rollicking and pulse thumping. Arguably the highlight among all of the course language, nudity, sexual activity, drug use and all round obscene behaviour is the central performance from Leonardo DiCaprio. This is Leo at his most daring and intense; his Belfort is a slimy, selfish, egocentric douchebag who is eminently watchable and somehow, against all odds, even manages to retain a slither of our sympathy. Wolf is not quite vintage Scorsese, however, even at 71 years old, the man with classics like Taxi Driver, Raging Bull, Goodfellas and The Departed on his C.V. proves he is still at the forefront of filmmaking in Hollywood.