← Back to Reviews
in
Well fellow MoFo’s the day has come where Martin Scorsese’s latest movie, The Wolf of Wall Street, has been released in theaters! A movie that as everyone probably knows has been my most anticipated movie of the year. Did Scorsese let me down? HELL NO! Marty gave me the best Christmas present in what is my pick for the best movie of 2013. A very dark and fun comedy / drama set against the backdrop of the 80’s stock broker culture! And it was FANTASTIC! To describe this film in a single phrase would be: the dangers of shallow excess and addiction. And the film dives right in to the ancient Roman-esque levels of depravity. In the first scene where they introduce Jordon Belfort (Leo DiCaprio), he is at his office where his employees are playing a game of toss the dwarf for cash (showing eccentricity). They then cut to Jordon snorting coke through a straw out of a hooker’s ******* (debauchery at its finest), and then showing Jordon’s greatest addiction MONEY! So the entire movie is one big rock and roll ride of making fat stacks of cash, doing mountains of drugs, f**king legions of hookers, and plenty of white collar crime. This is Goodfellas on Wall Street, with a structure is very similar to Scorsese’s classic film. The film is a tale of the rise, reign and fall of a powerful man. But you also have other elements to the film that are right out of Goodfellas, like the points where Leo is addressing the audience directly like Ray Liotta did in the final courtroom scene. The movie is narrated over by Leo DiCaprio (like Ray did); and of course LOTS of profanity! But unlike Goodfellas, Marty is going for laughs as well as drama!
The movie flashes back to the late 80’s. Jordon Belfort is first starting off in a big Wall Street firm under the mentorship of Mark Hanna (Matthew McConaughey). Mark shows Jordon the ropes, tells him the mental attitude and habits he needs, swears like a sailor, and introduces him to his new best friend cocaine. Then comes October 17 1987, or Black Monday; stocks go into the toilet, and a lot of brokers loss work. Jordon being desperate for work takes a job at a small investment firm where he is now dealing in “penny stocks.” These are VERY cheap, non Blue Chip stocks for very small and often crap companies. But the man who would eventually be called “The Wolf of Wall Street” smells an opportunity. A big wig Wall Street guy dealing in “Blue Chip” stocks makes a 1% commission on whatever he sells. On the “Pink List” penny stocks, he makes a 50% commission. So Jordon applies the same skills and salesmanship he knows from the big leagues and applies it to these “Pink list” stocks, and he finds a way to literally turn crap stocks into mountains of money! He then spring boards from that to selling penny stocks and blue chips, to even helping smaller companies going public with IPOs. He helps create a script for others to follow, and eventually expands a small operation to become the large Stratton Oakmont Brokerage Firm. The movie takes off from there on an orgy of drugs, sex, and shady stock dealings. Think of these guys as rock stars in three piece Armani suits.
The acting in this movie is superb! Martin Scorsese is one of those directors who knows how to get great performances out of his actors, even ones that are not all that great (see Marky Mark in The Departed and Joe Don Baker in Cape Fear if ya don’t believe me). But Marty has an excellent cast in this film, and that means A list performances. Leo DiCaprio plays the many faces of Jordon Belfort. He plays the confident, ruthless, and loud salesmen; he plays the poon hound; the arrogant bastard; and the many many different intoxicated faces depending on what substance he is ingesting. He plays the parts so well it would not surprise me if Leo was actually on drugs during shooting. My biggest surprise came from Margot Robbie, who plays Naomi, Jordon's second wife. I have never heard of her nor seen her in another movie. In fact according to IMDB, this is only her fourth film credit, but she puts out a performance that makes her look like an old pro. I was so impressed I was actually VERY surprised at her lack of film appearances. This is definitely her breakout role. In addition to Leo the other big star of this movie has to be Jonah Hill as Donnie Azoff. Now many of you would dismiss Jonah Hill as the guy from Superbad or some other low brow comedy like Grandma’s Boy, but this guy can act. I learned that when I saw Moneyball. And with Marty’s direction gives a fantastic performance! Donnie is Belfort’s right hand man, his friend, and often times his road trip buddy on the highway of coke and quaaludes. Donnie is funny, greedy, and equally depraved as Jordon. And the two are inseparable, whether at the office, traveling abroad, at the house, or whether taping money to a Slovenian stripper to smuggle into Switzerland so it can be hidden from the Feds.
And on that note I think I have to talk about the thing that separates this film from the rest of Marty’s movies. It’s explicitness. This movie is filled with so much nudity, drugs, and generally lewd behavior it borders on exploitation! I have seen all of Martin Scosese’s feature films and never have I seen a scene where blow is snorted out of a hookers ******* (or vagina I never got that close of a look), a scene where Jonah Hill is masturbating in a crowded room while on quaaludes (whether or not that was his actual penis or a prosthetic, I could not tell), or how about Leo DiCaprio engaged in an S&M session with a Dominatrix named Venice who has Leo held down with a lit candle up his ass and she does not give a F**K what the safe word is! Needless to say there was a damn good reason this was initially hit with an NC-17 and Marty needed a while to edit this movie down to an R rating. But you know what? I like exploitation, and this movie is such a funny fun ride I am perfectly happy with that. However I advise you if such things make you uncomfortable, you might want to stay away. Like certain voters who said very unkind things at Marty and company while at a Academy screening. This movie is not for everyone. But the explicitness does tie into the theme of excess, and you can’t do a movie about excess without being explicit. But give credit to Scorsese, this is not purely a three hour t!t and coke fest. There are quiet moments. There are moments of drama both in Jordon’s professional and personal life. There is an element of danger from the FBI who come sniffing around, and this is still a film about white color crime. But Marty knows how to tell a story and he perfectly balances the manic drug filled episodes with the serious moments.
Is this a good movie? No… it is a GREAT movie! It is a fun and hilarious three hour romp from beginning to end. Is it following the formula to Goodfellas? Yes and no. Its structure is very similar to the rise and fall of Henry Hill, but Jordon Belfort is his own man, and his own beast. This movie is his own unique story, and should be seen by anyone who calls himself a Scorsese fan. It is another great film from the master himself, and is not only my favorite film of the year, but in my humble opinion the best of the year. See it now!
Well fellow MoFo’s the day has come where Martin Scorsese’s latest movie, The Wolf of Wall Street, has been released in theaters! A movie that as everyone probably knows has been my most anticipated movie of the year. Did Scorsese let me down? HELL NO! Marty gave me the best Christmas present in what is my pick for the best movie of 2013. A very dark and fun comedy / drama set against the backdrop of the 80’s stock broker culture! And it was FANTASTIC! To describe this film in a single phrase would be: the dangers of shallow excess and addiction. And the film dives right in to the ancient Roman-esque levels of depravity. In the first scene where they introduce Jordon Belfort (Leo DiCaprio), he is at his office where his employees are playing a game of toss the dwarf for cash (showing eccentricity). They then cut to Jordon snorting coke through a straw out of a hooker’s ******* (debauchery at its finest), and then showing Jordon’s greatest addiction MONEY! So the entire movie is one big rock and roll ride of making fat stacks of cash, doing mountains of drugs, f**king legions of hookers, and plenty of white collar crime. This is Goodfellas on Wall Street, with a structure is very similar to Scorsese’s classic film. The film is a tale of the rise, reign and fall of a powerful man. But you also have other elements to the film that are right out of Goodfellas, like the points where Leo is addressing the audience directly like Ray Liotta did in the final courtroom scene. The movie is narrated over by Leo DiCaprio (like Ray did); and of course LOTS of profanity! But unlike Goodfellas, Marty is going for laughs as well as drama!
The movie flashes back to the late 80’s. Jordon Belfort is first starting off in a big Wall Street firm under the mentorship of Mark Hanna (Matthew McConaughey). Mark shows Jordon the ropes, tells him the mental attitude and habits he needs, swears like a sailor, and introduces him to his new best friend cocaine. Then comes October 17 1987, or Black Monday; stocks go into the toilet, and a lot of brokers loss work. Jordon being desperate for work takes a job at a small investment firm where he is now dealing in “penny stocks.” These are VERY cheap, non Blue Chip stocks for very small and often crap companies. But the man who would eventually be called “The Wolf of Wall Street” smells an opportunity. A big wig Wall Street guy dealing in “Blue Chip” stocks makes a 1% commission on whatever he sells. On the “Pink List” penny stocks, he makes a 50% commission. So Jordon applies the same skills and salesmanship he knows from the big leagues and applies it to these “Pink list” stocks, and he finds a way to literally turn crap stocks into mountains of money! He then spring boards from that to selling penny stocks and blue chips, to even helping smaller companies going public with IPOs. He helps create a script for others to follow, and eventually expands a small operation to become the large Stratton Oakmont Brokerage Firm. The movie takes off from there on an orgy of drugs, sex, and shady stock dealings. Think of these guys as rock stars in three piece Armani suits.
The acting in this movie is superb! Martin Scorsese is one of those directors who knows how to get great performances out of his actors, even ones that are not all that great (see Marky Mark in The Departed and Joe Don Baker in Cape Fear if ya don’t believe me). But Marty has an excellent cast in this film, and that means A list performances. Leo DiCaprio plays the many faces of Jordon Belfort. He plays the confident, ruthless, and loud salesmen; he plays the poon hound; the arrogant bastard; and the many many different intoxicated faces depending on what substance he is ingesting. He plays the parts so well it would not surprise me if Leo was actually on drugs during shooting. My biggest surprise came from Margot Robbie, who plays Naomi, Jordon's second wife. I have never heard of her nor seen her in another movie. In fact according to IMDB, this is only her fourth film credit, but she puts out a performance that makes her look like an old pro. I was so impressed I was actually VERY surprised at her lack of film appearances. This is definitely her breakout role. In addition to Leo the other big star of this movie has to be Jonah Hill as Donnie Azoff. Now many of you would dismiss Jonah Hill as the guy from Superbad or some other low brow comedy like Grandma’s Boy, but this guy can act. I learned that when I saw Moneyball. And with Marty’s direction gives a fantastic performance! Donnie is Belfort’s right hand man, his friend, and often times his road trip buddy on the highway of coke and quaaludes. Donnie is funny, greedy, and equally depraved as Jordon. And the two are inseparable, whether at the office, traveling abroad, at the house, or whether taping money to a Slovenian stripper to smuggle into Switzerland so it can be hidden from the Feds.
And on that note I think I have to talk about the thing that separates this film from the rest of Marty’s movies. It’s explicitness. This movie is filled with so much nudity, drugs, and generally lewd behavior it borders on exploitation! I have seen all of Martin Scosese’s feature films and never have I seen a scene where blow is snorted out of a hookers ******* (or vagina I never got that close of a look), a scene where Jonah Hill is masturbating in a crowded room while on quaaludes (whether or not that was his actual penis or a prosthetic, I could not tell), or how about Leo DiCaprio engaged in an S&M session with a Dominatrix named Venice who has Leo held down with a lit candle up his ass and she does not give a F**K what the safe word is! Needless to say there was a damn good reason this was initially hit with an NC-17 and Marty needed a while to edit this movie down to an R rating. But you know what? I like exploitation, and this movie is such a funny fun ride I am perfectly happy with that. However I advise you if such things make you uncomfortable, you might want to stay away. Like certain voters who said very unkind things at Marty and company while at a Academy screening. This movie is not for everyone. But the explicitness does tie into the theme of excess, and you can’t do a movie about excess without being explicit. But give credit to Scorsese, this is not purely a three hour t!t and coke fest. There are quiet moments. There are moments of drama both in Jordon’s professional and personal life. There is an element of danger from the FBI who come sniffing around, and this is still a film about white color crime. But Marty knows how to tell a story and he perfectly balances the manic drug filled episodes with the serious moments.
Is this a good movie? No… it is a GREAT movie! It is a fun and hilarious three hour romp from beginning to end. Is it following the formula to Goodfellas? Yes and no. Its structure is very similar to the rise and fall of Henry Hill, but Jordon Belfort is his own man, and his own beast. This movie is his own unique story, and should be seen by anyone who calls himself a Scorsese fan. It is another great film from the master himself, and is not only my favorite film of the year, but in my humble opinion the best of the year. See it now!