First, let me start by saying that The Wolf of Wall Street is batshit insane! It's a movie that people watching on drugs even go "whoa!" Keanu Reeves wouldn't even be able to believe it. It's perfect Scorsese. It's an unapologetic look at the life of Jordan Belfort - self made douchebag. This dude just wanted to be a stock broker and ended up doing... well... a lot of illegal shit, making more money than I can fathom, and becoming one of the most awesome anti-heroes in film. You know, like every Scorsese film.
The film is three hours on the dot of pure madness. What's great is that the film could've been played as a drama all the way and it would've been some seriously mental shit on screen that was very difficult for the audience to watch. However, instead of wagging their judgmental fingers at the lives of these characters, DiCaprio and Scorsese decided to go the comedy route. Granted, it's an incredibly dark comedy, it is still probably the funniest movie I've seen all year. These are despicable people doing debaucherous things. And, for some reason, we love every minute of it. It was a bold move for the filmmakers to go the route that they went, but because they did, we've ended up with probably the best movie of 2013.
Like I said before, DiCaprio plays Jordan Belfort, a stock broker who winds up getting so astonishingly rich that he's able to use his money for nearly any heinous feat of his choosing. Yes, he's the decay of society in a nutshell, but he could've wound up more evil than he was. In a Scorsese film, you're expecting him to wind up being a drug kingpin, whacking guys in the knees with baseball bats and murdering a bunch of people before going off to witness protection for the rest of his life or getting killed. He was a white collar criminal. He was able to employ hundreds of people and make them stinking rich as well. On the other side, he's a drug addict, a sex addict, a white collar criminal, and a pretty terrible husband. His best friend is Donnie, a jew'd out Jonah Hill, joins in on the "fun" with Belfort only to wind up on the wrong side of the law just as much. I can't help but think if this movie had been made in the 90s that the role of Donny would've gone to Joe Pesci. Watching Belfort's rise to power, his enjoyment in power, and his downfall is some of the most entertaining filmmaking this year.
Scorsese is also very unapologitic in his depiction of Belfort's unabashed hedonism. This is truly a no-holds-barred film. There's more nudity in the film than a late night skinemax show, there's more drugs than a documentary about Colombia. There are more uses of the word 'fuck' in this film than any other film in the history of film! It's a total clusterfuck of sheer madness, yet it's so enjoyable watching these rich douchebags taking the American dream and dropping a fat deuce right on it.
Yes, at times the film can be a bit masturbatory in it's hedonistic tendencies, yet every bit seems to be as important as the next. It's important to see that Belfort isn't an awful human being (even though he is). He's not a bad guy (even though he is). And his lifestyle choices and circumstances he could've easily avoided, led to his fall from power. It's a great character study of one of the most interesting people I've ever come across.
The acting is superb as well. I've always loved DiCaprio as an actor and there will be a time that he finally nails that Oscar. I don't think this is the time (I think the film will just be too much for Academy voters), but again he gives a fantastic performance. Watching the man on a bad Quaalude trip try to role himself out of a building and into his car for a solid five minutes of film, is both impressive and hilarious. Hearing the vulgar things coming out of his mouth, watching him do unspeakable acts like snorting cocaine out of the ass of a hooker... is so un-DiCaprio that it appears as though he's really amped up his game -- a game that needed no amping whatsoever.
The biggest surprise here, however, is Jonah Hill. As much as I want to believe that he's a one-note actor and probably a dick in person, the kid can act. And showing your acting skills next to an acting God like DiCaprio is no easy feat. He could've easily hammed it up with the Jew act and made his character into a caricature of the real guy, but he's actually a believable person. You like him, even though you hate him. He's funny, even though he's deplorable. And he steals nearly every single scene he's in.
I loved this movie and I will watch it many more times in my life. It's certainly not for everyone. It could quite possibly be the most R rated film I've ever seen and some of the things Scorsese gets away with was a little astonishing. However, it all works. It all fits. It's a story about a hateful person, yet you love watching this guy every second of the way. What a perfect way to end 2013.
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