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The Wolf of Wall Street (2013)
Director: Martin Scorsese
Cast overview: Leonardo DiCaprio, Jonah Hill
Running time: 180 minutes
This is Scorsese's latest film, and it's one of the best I've seen from him. Taking its inspiration from former stockbroker Jordan Belfort's personal memoirs of his decade of excess that led him to a 22-month prison sentence, it's both a look at the sleaze and dirty glamour of the finance industry on Wall Street, and also an entertaining thrill ride through much of Belfort's life. It tells of his rags-to-riches story, going from working-class to making more money than he knew what to do with in a matter of years. I believe that's one of the things to admire about Belfort - his work ethic and determination to succeed; of course, the actual defrauding isn't something to be applauded.
DiCaprio's performance as Belfort is charismatic, captivating, and engaging, not to mention offensive, and he's one of the reasons that this film is what it is. Without his presence, the film likely wouldn't be as enjoyable as it is. Every film I've seen recently has seemed to have DiCaprio in - this, Django Unchained, Shutter Island - but he's a very adept actor so that's no bad thing. Jonah Hill proves a solid understudy as Danny Porush, and there are other notable names forming the supporting cast, including director Rob Reiner as Belfort's father, Joanna Lumley as his wife's mother, and Matthew McConaughey as Mark Hanna.
Scorsese's direction is very good, the soundtrack is absolutely superb, featuring as it does some of my favourite songs, including Devo's "Uncontrollable Urge", and Terence Winter's script feels completely natural and realistic. I was also amused to learn that the film contains the most uses of "****" in a mainstream film, with 569 instances. I can completely believe that.
Overall, Scorsese here has created his best film in a few years, I'd say, with a fairly in-depth look at the sleaze and extravagance associated with Wall Street and all its offshoots. DiCaprio and the rest of the cast play their characters in an authentic and believable manner, and the end-result is a very good film that is one of the best of 2013.
Quotes
Jordan Belfort: Let me tell you something. There's no nobility in poverty. I've been a poor man, and I've been a rich man. And I choose rich every ****ing time.
[from trailer]
Jordan Belfort: My name is Jordan Belfort. The year I turned 26, I made 49 million dollars, which really pissed me off because it was three shy of a million a week.
Jordan Belfort: On a daily basis I consume enough drugs to sedate Manhattan, Long Island, and Queens for a month. I take Quaaludes 10-15 times a day for my "back pain", Adderall to stay focused, Xanax to take the edge off, pot to mellow me out, cocaine to wake me back up again, and morphine... Well, because it's awesome.
Trivia
Matthew McConaughey's scenes were shot on the second week of filming. The chest beating and humming performed by him was improvised and actually a warming up ritual that he performs before acting. When Leonardo DiCaprio saw it while filming, the brief shot of him looking away uneasily from the camera was actually him looking at Martin Scorsese for approval. DiCaprio encouraged them to include it in their scene and later claimed it "set the tone" for the rest of the film.
Real-life Jordan Belfort appears in a brief role in the film's final scene, introducing his cinema stand-in Leonardo DiCaprio. As accurately portrayed, Belfort is now a motivational speaker who previously served 22 months in federal prison for stock fraud.
The scene where Brad punches Donnie is real, in fact Jon Bernthal hit Jonah Hill so hard that the prosthetic teeth he was wearing split and flew out of his mouth. Martin Scorsese then proceeded to film Hill's face swelling in real time.
Trailer
Director: Martin Scorsese
Cast overview: Leonardo DiCaprio, Jonah Hill
Running time: 180 minutes
This is Scorsese's latest film, and it's one of the best I've seen from him. Taking its inspiration from former stockbroker Jordan Belfort's personal memoirs of his decade of excess that led him to a 22-month prison sentence, it's both a look at the sleaze and dirty glamour of the finance industry on Wall Street, and also an entertaining thrill ride through much of Belfort's life. It tells of his rags-to-riches story, going from working-class to making more money than he knew what to do with in a matter of years. I believe that's one of the things to admire about Belfort - his work ethic and determination to succeed; of course, the actual defrauding isn't something to be applauded.
DiCaprio's performance as Belfort is charismatic, captivating, and engaging, not to mention offensive, and he's one of the reasons that this film is what it is. Without his presence, the film likely wouldn't be as enjoyable as it is. Every film I've seen recently has seemed to have DiCaprio in - this, Django Unchained, Shutter Island - but he's a very adept actor so that's no bad thing. Jonah Hill proves a solid understudy as Danny Porush, and there are other notable names forming the supporting cast, including director Rob Reiner as Belfort's father, Joanna Lumley as his wife's mother, and Matthew McConaughey as Mark Hanna.
Scorsese's direction is very good, the soundtrack is absolutely superb, featuring as it does some of my favourite songs, including Devo's "Uncontrollable Urge", and Terence Winter's script feels completely natural and realistic. I was also amused to learn that the film contains the most uses of "****" in a mainstream film, with 569 instances. I can completely believe that.
Overall, Scorsese here has created his best film in a few years, I'd say, with a fairly in-depth look at the sleaze and extravagance associated with Wall Street and all its offshoots. DiCaprio and the rest of the cast play their characters in an authentic and believable manner, and the end-result is a very good film that is one of the best of 2013.
Quotes
Jordan Belfort: Let me tell you something. There's no nobility in poverty. I've been a poor man, and I've been a rich man. And I choose rich every ****ing time.
[from trailer]
Jordan Belfort: My name is Jordan Belfort. The year I turned 26, I made 49 million dollars, which really pissed me off because it was three shy of a million a week.
Jordan Belfort: On a daily basis I consume enough drugs to sedate Manhattan, Long Island, and Queens for a month. I take Quaaludes 10-15 times a day for my "back pain", Adderall to stay focused, Xanax to take the edge off, pot to mellow me out, cocaine to wake me back up again, and morphine... Well, because it's awesome.
Trivia
Matthew McConaughey's scenes were shot on the second week of filming. The chest beating and humming performed by him was improvised and actually a warming up ritual that he performs before acting. When Leonardo DiCaprio saw it while filming, the brief shot of him looking away uneasily from the camera was actually him looking at Martin Scorsese for approval. DiCaprio encouraged them to include it in their scene and later claimed it "set the tone" for the rest of the film.
Real-life Jordan Belfort appears in a brief role in the film's final scene, introducing his cinema stand-in Leonardo DiCaprio. As accurately portrayed, Belfort is now a motivational speaker who previously served 22 months in federal prison for stock fraud.
The scene where Brad punches Donnie is real, in fact Jon Bernthal hit Jonah Hill so hard that the prosthetic teeth he was wearing split and flew out of his mouth. Martin Scorsese then proceeded to film Hill's face swelling in real time.
Trailer