Late Movie Review - The Wolf Of Wall Street

Nearly three hours of unrelenting energy and intensity, Martin Scorsese brings us another masterpiece that will go down as another in a career of hits

This one is a little late, but it was well worth the wait. Martin Scorsese is a living legend. He has the kind of career that most aspiring filmmakers can only dream about. Mr. Scorsese takes us on a trip down a road that is paved with illegal drugs, strippers, and any other manner of depravity you can think of. But it also tells us the story of a man who lets his own ambitions get away from him, and simply can't get out of his own way. Leonardo Dicaprio seems to have made a conscious decision to spend 2013 playing rich guys in the 20th century, and does a damn good job of it in both cases. Like his turn as Jay Gatsby earlier in the year, Leo immerses himself in a role that in the hands of a lesser actor could be deemed almost cartoonish . But he straddles the line perfectly and even makes us feel bad for his character, even when he is at his worst. Wolf is, frame by frame, an exercise in energetic filmmaking. It is ironic that a film made by a 70 year old director has more exuberance than those made by people half his age.

The Wolf of Wall Street tells the true story of Jordan Belfort. Belfort is emblematic of the unrestrained financial shenanigans of the final years of the American century, when the idea of any consequences for lid-off monetary opportunism seemed unthinkable (it's quite likely that Wolf could be a giant hit in China, Russia and other markets where the spectacle of American irresponsibility will be most appreciated). Jordan, in the beginning of the movie, is a well meaning young man who simply wants all the opportunities that working on wall street can afford him. This quickly becomes not enough for him and he forms his own business, Stratton Oakmont with the aide of the incredibly eager Donnie, played by Jonah Hill. Hill should, and probably will, win an Oscar for his performance in this movie.

As the business gains more success and grows more and more, so to do the parties and celebrations become more debauched; throughout, Scorsese pushes to the outer limits of the R rating (the film did require cutting to avoid an NC-17) in showing drug excess perhaps outdone only by Scarface and rampant sex, including in the workplace. Even when the firm grows to a thousand employees, the office filled with white-shirt-and-black-tied men more often resembles a mosh pit more than a place of business. Jordan's ferocious inspirational speeches to his troops are among the film's highlights, and the boss gets his greatest satisfaction from seeing the men (there are a few women) go ape with abandon at the prospect of their unethical practices reaping ever-escalating profits. Greed is all-pervasive and is held as life's greatest virtue.

 With success for Jordan comes a trade-up trophy wife; Naomi Lapaglia ( Margot Robbie) is gorgeous as can be, although her lower-class roots show whenever she opens her mouth. The charter flight to Vegas for a $2 million wedding party sets a new high bar for R-rated debauchery (this was reportedly one of the scenes most heavily trimmed for the ratings board) and the sky's the limit on other expenditures as well: mansions, the fanciest cars, a helicopter and a yacht to which Jordan invites FBI agent Denham (an excellent, low-key Kyle Chandler) when authorities decide to put him in their sights.

One particularly tasty side story involves Jordan's use of Naomi's stylish British aunt Emma (Joanna Lumley) to systematically stash large sums of cash in Swiss banks. A proud survivor of the Swinging Sixties, Emma is a wonderful character in this context, one whose eyebrows are scarcely raised by the younger generation's antics because she's seen it all—and no doubt participated in it—before. An innuendo-laden conversation between the two in the park is a master class inner dialogue.

Scorsese leaves no storytelling device or trick unused except for understatement. The real-life story being told may be dramatic, but much of it is played for comedy, sometimes to the edge of farce, notably in a hilarious scene in which Jordan, under the effect of vintage Quaaludes to "the cerebral palsy stage," agonizingly drags himself out of a country club, tumbles down a flight of stairs and attempts to drive home.

This is a story of  letting greed over take you, and letting your desires get away from you. Another classic from a director who somehow manages to get better and better. Wolf of Wall Street is without question a movie well worth your time, and one of the best, if not the best, films of the year.

10/10