Review of The Wolf of Wall Street (2013) by Axgrinder — 07 Feb 2014

Wolf of Wall Street is one of my top 3 picks for most over-rated movie of the year (after Inside Llewyn Davis and Fruitvale Station). It’s a portrayal of Wall Street in the 1980’s. If you were alive and over 18 back then you already know this was a time of excess, immorality and corruption.

Scorsese presents all this in truly over-the-top fashion, while offering no insight or enlightenment about any of it. At 3 hours, the movie is way, way too long. It drags, in part, because several scenes are repeated over and over.

The movie also borrows heavily from previous Scorsese movies, especially Goodfellas, and you may find yourself saying, “I’ve seen this before.” What Wolf lacks in originality, Scorsese tries to make up for through excess.

Despite lots of beautiful naked women, Scorsese amps the level of cursing, drug use and orgies to the point where it actually becomes boring and monotonous. Impossible, you say? I wish! Still want to see this move, but need an excuse? Thinking of playing the “my girlfriend is a Leonardo DiCaprio fan” card? Don’t, she’s going to be disappointed, too.

Leo’s not very sexy when he’s on Quaaludes (frequently) or when he’s repeatedly cheating on his wives (constantly). Whether you’re male or female, it’s hard to feel much affinity with DiCaprio’s character (Jordan Belfort) and DiCaprio’s acting, while physical in nature (think Matthew Perry-The Whole Nine Yards), isn’t compelling.

Jonah Hill’s portrayal of Donnie Azoff provides some laughs, but ultimately his character isn’t very likeable either. The movie is so uninspiring the only thoughts it provokes are along the lines of, “If I had that much money, there’s no way I would have screwed things up so badly.

” This movie is for hard-core Scorsese fans only.