Mesmerizing, overlong "Wolf of Wall Street" is Scorsese and DiCaprio's tribute to excess
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| Jonah Hill and Leonardo DiCaprio |
It's hardly ironic that acclaimed, award-winning film director Martin Scorsese and his current muse, Leonardo DiCaprio, would make a three-hour film about Wall Street excess and debauchery. It's also to Scorsese's credit as a remarkable filmmaker that his three-hour epic film "The Wolf of Wall Street" (based on a true story) is rarely dull, darkly funny and vastly entertaining. DiCaprio is real-life Wall Street investor Jordan Belfort, who becomes an overnight success and starts his own company with Donnie (Jonah Hill), selling penny stocks to unwitting investors. Belfort lives, plays and works to excess, with a gorgeous wife (Australian actress Margot Robbie), a mansion, yacht, lots of drugs not to mention a FBI agent (Kyle Chandler) hot on his trail, ready to convict Belfort for his schemes. Based on Belfort's biography of the same name and written by "Boardwalk Empire's" Terence Winter, Scorsese's charming Wall Street is a spellbound, well-acted tale from the opening moments, full of so much sex, drugs and revelry that it puts Gordon Gekko to shame. "Wolf" isn't a film for everyone, but only Scorsese could get away with showing this much gluttony and so well that you think you're a part of it yourself (full female nudity and scores of cocaine lines fill the movie). DiCaprio commands the screen so powerfully and expertly, it's easy to see why Scorsese casts him so often The supporting cast is just as good: Matthew McConaughey makes a sublime but very brief appearance in the first act, and watch for Rob Reiner as DiCaprio's father, Jon Favreau as his lawyer and Jean Dujardin as a corrupt Swiss banker. Hill is also quite good as DiCaprio's portly business partner in crime, giving Hill, otherwise known for immature, low-brow comedies, his best role to date. Scorsese's three-hour film about excess and wild times is hardly surprising but also unnecessary, becoming so redundant by the time it gets to its second act that you have a sense that there's nowhere for Belfort to go but down. The entertaining "The Wolf of Wall Street" is full of dark, amusing moments and Scorsese's frenetic style, pacing and editing (from his usual, award-winning film editor Thelma Schoonmaker) fits the film perfectly. Yes, it's long and we get the point early on, but you won't look away, either. A must-see for Scorsese and DiCaprio fans.
Wes's Grade: A-
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