Leonardo DiCaprio gives a mesmerizing performance as Jordan Belfort, a wet behind the ears stockbroker who skyrocketed to the upper echelon of stockbroking only to tumble just as quickly. Directed by Martin Scorsese, this biographical comedy will overload your senses with drugs, sex and more drugs throughout the 180 minute debauchery marathon. More on the long runtime later in the review. The Wolf of Wall Street is out in theaters on Christmas Day and is rated R for sequences of strong sexual content, graphic nudity, drug use and language throughout, and for some violence.
The Wolf of Wall Street starts off shortly before what is now known as Black Monday (October 19, 1987) and goes through the mid 90’s. During this wild roller coaster ride we get to peek behind the Wall Street curtain to see what really goes on for some in the crazy stockbroking world. As Scorsese has done in past films this one is not short on acting talent. The supporting cast includes Jonah Hill, Kyle Chandler, Jon Favreau, Rob Reiner, Jean Dujardin and Matthew McConaughey to name a few. Unfortunately Scorsese also brings his trademark long runtime which slowed the movie a bit thus taking away from the full enjoyment factor. The crazy thing is that it was rumored that 17 minutes of additional drug use and sex were cut. It was done in order to get rating downgraded from the dreaded NC-17 rating to the more box office friendly R rating. Even with 17 minutes chopped it still clocked in as Scorsese’s longest production to date. I personally would have preferred something in the 150 minute range.
DiCaprio was top notch and this may arguably be his best performance as an actor. I wouldn’t be surprised one bit if he’s mentioned as a front runner for an Oscar for Best Actor. The list goes on and on when it comes to the strong acting performances. The overall vibe of the movie had an authentic feel to it albeit a bit far fetched at times, but hey this is Hollywood. The music, the cars, the clothes – they all screamed 90’s. Living the high life by blowing through money, drugs and women was the in thing to do. Madonna was right when she said we are living in a material world.
With the excessive sex and drugs The Wolf of Wall Street isn’t for everyone. If you aren’t put off by such things and can handle the long runtime, this is an entertaining movie to see. You won’t believe how these men and women dealt with the stress of trading stocks in the dog eat dog world of Wall Street.
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Great review, I couldn’t agree more Carl.
Carl did an excellent review. I enjoyed The Wolf Of Wall Street. I think Leonardo did a great job of portraying Jordan Belfort. It was interesting, unbelievable, and entertaining to see how the big boys live.