Review of The Wolf of Wall Street (2013) by Swati — 29 Jan 2014

Martin Scorsese returns to showing us a debauched way of life which seems to be his favourite subject. There's plenty of parties, drugs, liquor and sex. Scorsese is the master of depicting the passage of time with imagery and voice-over.

The acting was splendid. DiCaprio nails the role of a free of concern stockbroker with more money than he can spend. Jonah Hill does a nice job as a supporting character. The remaining supporting cast, including Matthew McConaughey did wonderful jobs and true justice to their roles.

The message here is the same one Scorsese has already dealt with in Goodfellas. Then he followed a bunch of gangsters around as they rose and fell while they reaped what they sow. This time the main characters are a party loving horde of stockbrokers who swindle rich people out of their millions without anything weighing down on their conscience.

The subject matter was so intriguing, and Scorsese had so much to tell that I thought that the length was justified. When a movie does not drag for a moment despite going on for three hours, you have to admit that you were glad that it was this long. I'm sure it will be watched and re-watched by countless zealous fans of Scorsese for decades to come.

The time depicted is the 1980s. After a stock market crash, Jordan Belfort finds himself out of work. He builds from the scratch, hiring promising but uneducated good-for-nothings who make millions along with him. The trade is so lucrative it is unbelievable. But of course when you attract this much attention, there are bound to be people who would look into your life and try to find your weaknesses, which in this case were hunts for evidence which might prove that the wealth that Belfort has accumulated was acquired by illegal means. So ensues a game of wits where the FBI and the stockbrokers try to come out on top.

The tone is always light and humorous. Nigh a scene passes without being followed by a comical one cracking you up. Matthew McConaughey is the first one to show us what the movie would be like. That scene at the restaurant where he mentors Jordan on how to live his life was one of the best scenes. But the movie is replete with such memorable scenes. Both Jonah Hill and DiCaprio delivered such strong performances and were so funny that I couldn't help but applaud them for their efforts. I think they both deserve the nominations they have received at the Oscars.

There are more scenes of nudity and sex than I could count, but they were used with finesse. They never seemed lewd, although that word was passed around a lot. Everyone was fond of snorting cocaine. The level of partying displayed left me envious, which I think was the whole point. It had a purpose, which was to make us learn a lesson when the fates of these characters eventually catch up with them.

The first hour and a half was about nothing except for care-free sex, earning loads of money and taking in various drugs. I trusted Scorsese to change gears midway and he did exactly that. The movie became somewhat sober but still did not change the mood so much as I've seen in other movies which became atrocious the minute they became serious.

The characters clearly enjoyed their lives to the fullest. And when someone is having fun, you can't help but root for them when the bad guys (which might be the good ones in real life) seek to bring them down to their own level. It did feel like Scorsese was celebrating debauchery. But I think the ending was done pretty well and succeeded to show us what you get when you wrong someone.

I feel like Scorsese has created a great piece which will be admired in the coming years if not now. But yet I think the film lacked the greatness he achieved with his earlier films like Goodfellas and The Departed. But I might be wrong. Who knows how I'll feel about it if I watched it a couple of times more. It did feel like a film that wanted to achieve more hence the longer running time, and I could not put my finger on anything it messed up, so I might be feeling differently about it if I was asked in a few years' time. But this is Scorsese we're talking about. Even if he makes a film that people will jump to criticize, it's only because we have become accustomed to expect nothing less than greatness from him.