This is not a movie for everyone. People across the country are walking out as the critics heap praise on Marty Scorsese’s latest collaboration with Leo DiCaprio. Got three hours to kill?
The Wolf of Wall Street (Leonardo DiCaprio, Jonah Hill, Jean Dujardin, Margo Robbie, Rob Reiner, Kyle Stanley) – THE WOLF OF WALL STREET SCREAMS AT YOU FOR THREE HOURS! It is 180 minutes of excess. Whether it is nude bodies, drugs, the “f” word, the yacht, the booze, the house, the sex, Martin Scorsese overdoes it. Of course, nobody does over-the-top and graphic better than one of Hollywood’s all-time best directors. His list of great films is voluminous. His 10 Oscar nominations include seven for Best Director, including a win for The Departed.
That film starred an exceptional cast that included Leonardo DiCaprio, Scorsese’s favorite actor since Robert De Niro (they did Raging Bull, Casino, Taxi Driver, The King of Comedy, Goodfellows and Cape Fear). He and Leo have done numerous movies together, too, including The Aviator, Shutter Island, and Gangs of New York.
Leo is phenomenal here as Jordon Belfort, a self-styled super salesman who takes Wall Street by storm, first as a lowly cold caller and later as a stockbroker. He’s Michael Milken and Bernie Madoff all in one. Mentored by our first over-the-top character, Mark Hanna (played by a gaunt and haggard-looking Matthew McConaughey), his boss’ boss, Belfort is smitten with money. Of course, cash is an aphrodisiac, the first of many. Belfort loses his job after Black Friday in the ‘80s and lands at a fly-by-night brokerage selling penny stocks. Crappy stocks; big money for the broker.
So he goes out on his own, recruiting a group of misfits led by Donnie Azoff (Jonah Hill). These guys couldn’t possibly be successful; they are all caricatures, which is exactly Scorsese’s point. His film is more graphic novel than morality tale. If Wall Street is anything like this, we have all been duped.
The gang is clownish. They sell stocks to unwitting commoners looking for a big payday. They prey on the weak and celebrate unconditionally, indulging their every fantasy. Drugs, particularly cocaine and Quaaludes, fuel them. Sex is easy, especially when you are willing to pay for it either directly or indirectly. Belfort’s car looks like something right out of Batman, which is probably the perfect metaphor for Belfort himself. He thinks he is invincible. You can’t take that many drugs, drink that much booze, screw everything in sight, and launder enough money without consequence. But that is what Belfort and his band do.
Well almost. Enter the dogged FBI agent, Patrick Denham (Friday Night Light’s Kyle Stanley). Denham is a stereotype. He spars briefly with Belfort, who figures he can both outsmart the cop and buy him off. And just when it seems that he’ll win, Belfort goes too far. He and the boys make a mistake or two, and the decline begins. But not without a fight.
We follow the money to Switzerland and a banker, Jean Jacques Saurel (Jean Dujardin), who helps Belfort hide millions. We ride, party, and crash a yacht, named Naomi, after Jordon’s second wife (Margot Robbie). She is a bombshell, a dream who looks like a Victoria Secret model (he calls her “duchess” because she is part Dutch) and talks like a Jersey Shore harlot.
The plot goes on and on from here. We know that Belfort is headed for a literal and figurative fall. There are truly comical scenes, most drug-induced. There are tragic scenes. There’s the gay orgy, the candle in the butt, and the brutal storm in the Mediterranean. There’s a marching band, naked cheerleaders, and a $10,000 head-shaving.
There are exceptional performances here. Jonah Hill is almost unrecognizable as Azoff. He is way better than he was in Moneyball for which he was nominated for an Oscar. His casting in Wolf is surprising but so was Scorsese’s use of Don Rickles in Casino. Rob Reiner is great as Belfort’s father, a sane voice in the middle of nutso land but he just goes along with the flow. Cameos by Jon Favreau and McConaughey add to the allure of the film. DiCaprio is part Jack Nicholson in The Departed, Tom Cruise in Magnolia, and Michael Douglas as Gordon Gecko in Wall Street.
The story is so bizarre and the movie so over-the-top that it turns this comic book of a film into a serious work of art. Scorsese pounds his message about the excesses of Wall Street. He essentially tells the audience that we’re all fools for following these buffoons who coax us out of our money to chase a dream from people who don’t know anything more about the fate of stocks that any of us. We could all do this if we just had the chutzpah and the habits of the “Wolf” and his pack.
Scorsese makes us think, laugh, gawk, gasp and squirm. You can’t ask much more from a film. But with three full hours of excess, The Wolf of Wall Street will wear you out … then spit you out.
I saw this alone, and I’m sure my wife wouldn’t have enjoyed it at all. Go at your own risk if you dare. But if you don’t like screen sex, the “f” word, and drug use, skip it and go see Frozen or any of the really good independent movies out there.