The Wolf of Wall Street (2013)

nTitle: The Wolf of Wall Street (2013)

nDirector: Martin Scorsese

nCast: Leonardo DiCaprio, Jonah Hill, Margot Robbie, MatthewnMcConaughey, Rob Reiner, Kyle Chandler, Jon Favreau

nI went into The Wolf of Wall Street knowing very littlenabout it; the only thing that pulled me in was knowing that DiCaprio and Scorsesenwere working together again, something they’ve been doing since they collaboratednon Gangs of New York (2002). The Wolf of Wall Street marks their fifthncollaboration! When these two get together they don’t disappoint. I mean, werentalking about one of the greatest directors of our time, the guy who gave usnTaxi Driver (1976), Raging Bull (1980), Goodfellas (1990) and Casino (1995), tonname just a few of the many memorable films that Scorsese is responsible for. There’sna reason why he is a living legend in the world of cinema, he is a directornthat lives and breathes films. He’s the kind of director that makes filmsnbecause it’s his art; it’s what he was born to do, it’s what he loves, rarelyndo directors understand the cinematic language and it’s many uses the way Scorsesendoes and in The Wolf of Wall Street he puts all the knowledge he’s accumulatednthrough the years to good use, the results are nothing short of one of Scorsese’snmost entertaining films in years.

nThe film is based on Jordan Belfort’s book of the same name.nIt tells the story of how Belfort became a stock broker extraordinaire by startingnhis own company. Belfort was a guy who started at the very bottom of thencorporate ladder by working as a stockbroker on Wall Street; as Belfort learned the tricks of the trade, henslowly but surely made his dreams a reality: he finally got what he alwaysnwanted, his own firm! It isn’t long before Belfort and his team make so muchnmoolah, that they don’t know what the hell to do with it! They soon discovernmany mind expanding ways to spend their millions: lots of parties, lot’s ofndrugs and lot’s of sex! Will money and power corrupt these guys? Or will they learnnto do things the right way; avoiding ugly confrontations with the I.R.S. or thenF.B.I? Can they get away with it?

nThe Wolf of Wall Street was released on Christmas Day as anbeautiful Christmas present from Martin Scorsese to movie goers everywhere;nactually I’m being sarcastic; the movie has nothing to do with Christmas, ornanything nice, in fact, it shows one of the ugliest sides of human nature:nGREED. The Wolf of Wall Street’s release coincided with two other films dealingnwith similar subject matter: David O Russell’s American Hustle (2013) andnRidley Scott’s The Counselor (2013); these are all films depicting greedynpeople going the lengths to make as much money as they can, as quickly as theyncan, so they can live the quintessential ‘American Dream’; which in all three moviesnquickly degenerates into an American Nightmare. You watch these three films andnyou won’t see good wholesome people playing by the rules. Nope, in all threenyou’ll see a lot of people making desperate moves to get rich quick; which isnnever a good idea. There’s been some bad press for The Wolf of Wall Streetnsaying things like it glorifies this sex, drugs and rock and roll lifestyle,nbut in reality, The Wolf of Wall Street is a morality tale, in the end, the onento break the law gets caught. Greed and excess in these films are portrayed as sins.nBy way of an example, the tagline for The Counselor is “Sin is a Choice”, hellnone of the many promotional posters for The Wolf of Wall Street shows LeonardonDiCaprio posing for a mug shot, so no, I don’t agree with those that say thisnmovie glorifies greed, in fact, on this film, greed gets you a warm bed innjail.

nBut then again, you can’t really blame a film for beingntruthful either; I mean, the film isn’t about glorifying greed or excess, itnsimply shows things the way they happened, that’s it and that’s all. If it allnappears to be one big party, than that’s probably because that’s the way itnhappened. In the interest of authenticity, Belfort himself was onset as anconsultant in order to make things as truthful as possible, which adds a levelnof credibility to the film. There’s a difference between glorifying a thing andnbeing truthful people! But you wanna know what’s really weird about the film? It’snhow these guys are all doing these awful things, yet it all comes off as incrediblynfunny. The real deal with The Wolf of Wall Street is that it may not look likena comedy, but in reality, the film is hilarious! I saw it with a packednaudience, and they were cracking up every five minutes. Leonardo DiCaprio wasnnominated for a Golden Globe for this film in the “Best Actor in a Comedy” category,nso that tells you a whole lot about the general aura of the film. Two elementsndominate this film: comedy and schock value. I mean, these guys do some prettynhorrible things on this movie, yet it’s all hilarious at the same time? DiCaprionplays Belfort with a snicker in his face the whole time, like he’s got it allncovered and don’t you worry about a thing. Speaking of Dicaprio, the talentednactor has been ignored by the Academy Awards for way too long, what gives? Henkeeps making excellent film after excellent film and they just keep on ignoringnthe guy. I was almost sure he’d win an Oscar for Django Unchained (2012), but no.nAgain he was denied! Hopefully the Academy will give him the recognition hendeserves.

nOscar aspirations aside, I gotta remind you guys that thisnmovie is crass, I mean, it doesn’t care one bit about being politically correctnand I liked it! I mean, I’m getting pretty freaking tired with all these moviesnplaying it safe and trying to be all polite and nice; leave it to Martin Scorsese,na cinematic child of the 70’s, to give us a movie with some big brass balls! Thisnone is a hard R all the way! There’s a lot of shock value to this movie! Whenngoing to see this movie you have to ask yourself one question: are you ready tonsee Leonardo DiCaprio snorting cocaine out of some girls’ asshole? Well younbetter be, because that happens in the films first ten minutes, just to makensure you know what you’re getting yourself into! Final words on The Wolf ofnWall Street is that it’s a jolt of electricity down your spine; the last time Inremember getting that from a movie was with Tarantino’s Pulp Fiction (1994), sontake that for what it’s worth. This is one of those epic movies that takes you downnthe life of a character from start to finish; from when they we’re nobodies, tonwhen they become stock broking rock stars; you’ll go down the road with thesenguys as they get rich, party like animals, get corrupted and finally pay fornall their excesses. Sure they all end up in jail doing time, but boy, what anride eh?! Here I was thinking that Alfonso Cuaron’s Gravity (2013) was going tonend up being my favorite film of 2013; guess what, things change, so The Wolfnof Wall Street is now my official choice for best film of 2013! Go see it!

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nRating: 5 out of 5