Today's Review: The Wolf of Wall Street

 

The Wolf of Wall Street: ****/*****, or 8/10

You might at first be inclined to ask yourself, 'a three-hour movie about money, how can that be the least bit interesting?' Don't worry, for Martin Scorsese's grand 'dramedy' The Wolf of Wall Street is not a movie about money. In fact, the lead character himself directly acknowledges this fear early on in the movie by stating that 'we wouldn't be interested in all that stuff', afterwards largely avoiding the subject altogether. So don't go in expecting any dreary financial number crunching, since it's really all about what said money (lots and lots and lots of it!) does with people. People, inherently flawed, get progressively flawed – read: fucked up – as their income increases astronomically. Meanwhile, every sense of ethics, responsibility or even plain decency goes right out the window. Scorsese's case in point: Jordan Belfort.

Belfort, a superb piece of acting by Leonardo DiCaprio, starts out as many a regular Joe from the middle class: screwed over by a financial crash and reduced to unemployment, thus unable to provide for his loving wife. All the more disappointing for him as he had just found a job at a large Wall Street firm, where his boss (an impeccably loathsome Matthew McConaughey) saw his potential and advised him not to abstain of sex and drugs while on this job. Thanks to Belfort's talent for agressive sales pitching, he quickly recuperates selling worthless stock at a fifty percent commission rate, and before long he returns to Wall Street triumphantly with a loyal band of peculiar misfits in his wake (including Jonah Hill on steroids), all of whom have their specific place in his grand scheme of taking money from the ignorant masses that hope to make a quick buck on the stock market. The only one making easy money are Jordan and his friends though, and before long they become increasingly desensitized to the plight of their clients in favor of their own ruthless acquisition of wealth. 'The Wolf of Wall Street' is born, and despite Jordan's all too human persona, such a term fits him perfectly, as this alpha male and his pack of wild dogs scour the land preying on the weak and gullible to feast upon their cash in a financial frenzy. One that seemingly knows no bounds, as Belfort continues his practices for years without sanctions or indictments, despite ongoing FBI scrutiny. Nevertheless, Belfort needs no help in bringing him down, as he does a fine job at that on his own.

In many ways The Wolf of Wall Street is a fairly typical story of a man gaining the world but losing his soul in the process, as he is unable to keep his base instincts in check. Arguably, it's not the plot that makes the movie stand out, it's the way Scorsese tells it to his audience. Walking a fine line between comedy and drama that finds both in perfect balance throughout the whole, The Wolf of Wall Street proves infectiously hilarious at one moment and effectively poignant the next. As Jordan's novel lifestyle as a millionaire progressively takes its toll, his personal life spirals ever more out of control emotionally and physically as his constant drive for more and more dominates his every move. Fondly remembering his former boss' advice, Belfort sets out on a course of rampant sex and drugs without worrying about any consequences, as money will no doubt solve any obstacles in his path. Small wonder his wife soon leaves him as she finds him snogging a super model. Marrying said model doesn't increase the happiness in his family life, children notwithstanding. Abusing every conceivable illicit substance imaginable also doesn't work in his favor. Despite the many yachts, limousines, prostitutes and drugs, Scorsese makes it amply clear that this is not a life to be envied as Belfort's once decent personality is replaced by a greedy, amoral and self-annihilating character that can only get the better of him, sooner if not later. Having become a veritable slave of money, Belfort remains miserable, and we wouldn't have it any other way, as his road to a personal hell is paved with one outrageously funny messed up situation after another.

Aside from DiCaprio's top performance, Scorsese gets the very best out of his cast and crew in conveying this tale of human deterioration at the hands of boundless greed, which often borders on the unbelievable. Exploding planes, savage storms at sea, goldfish eating, dwarf tossing and the generally lavish parties of debauchery at the office heralding the weekend are among the many elements of The Wolf of Wall Street that are so absurd, they can only be true. In terms of comedy, nothing beats the delayed kicking-in of exceptionally rare drugs that causes a most unwelcome physical reaction at an hour of crisis at which the need to get home fast results in one of the most humorous car scenes ever on the big screen. Despite all the controversy, the many scenes of nudity and excessive swearing feel rightfully placed, and credit must be given to both the director and his brave cast to stick with such daring material instead of catering to a general sense of good public taste, something Belfort severely lacked. The fast paced, witty dialogue written by Terence Winter proves to be in excellent hands of the assembled cast of seasoned actors, including the likes of Jean Dujardin, Rob Reiner, Jon Favreau, Kyle Chandler and Joanna Lumley. Stylistically there's little to comment against the picture as the ingenious editing, wonderful cinematography and delightful score, featuring many a successful callback to the period in question, are found to be in perfect sync to make for a superior cinematic experience. But The Wolf of Wall Street at its heart remains another intimate collaboration between the grandmaster Scorsese and his personal muse DiCaprio, their fifth and finest thus far. The duo makes damn sure you care enough about Belfort to run along with him for three hours, but never are you really allowed to sympathize with him, given his deplorable nature.

With The Wolf of Wall Street, Scorsese has directed a modern classic warning audiences of the destructive dangers of endless self-enrichment, a film that is easily matched to any already existing films on the topic. Belfort claimed to be inspired in his professional shenanigans by the despicably greedy character of Gordon Gekko (Michael Douglas) in Oliver Stone's Wall Street. Despite Scorsese's upsetting picture of the life and times of Belfort in his own Wall Street film, history has proven that there's always people present who just don't get the picture as they consider the wildest possible life of sex and drugs that money can buy the highest achievable goal to strive for. With DiCaprio's sublime performance, it stands to reason, like it or not, that in another three decades we'll be watching movies about similarly morally bankrupt characters based on actual personalities that will claim to have been inspired by Jordan Belfort in 'that classic Scorsese film'. Not something to look forward to, but a sad reality of what money hath ever wrought.