The Wolf of Wall Street (2013)

The Wolf of Wallstreet, 2013. Film. Directed by Martin SCORSESE.
USA: Paramount Pictures

Based on a true story, The Wolf of Wall Street follows the life of Jordan Belfort from his rise to life as a wealthy stock-broker to his downfall. It's a story of crime and corruption.

Leonardo DiCaprio plays the central role very over the top and very confidently. We see the character constantly behaving on the edge of the law as he goes from somebody who has almost nothing to someone who has everything he had ever dreamed of. Jonah Hill plays Belfort’s sidekick Donnie Azoff, who decides he wants to be a part of the high life. Hill’s performance is promising and brings a lot of humour to the film. I found his role to be the most entertaining throughout the film.

In terms of content, the film is predominately about money, drugs and sex. Many critics have argued that it is glamourising Belfort’s way of life and this is not difficult to see. From beginning to end, we are constantly shown scenes depicting Belfort’s lifestyle in a way that almost feels like you’re being forced to like him and the activities he’s involved in. As for glamourising, I think it depends on if the character of Belfort can win you over. For me, it just made me hate him more.

Throughout the entire film, we only see the life of Belfort. We are constantly in his company and the whole story is narrated by him. He’s doing terrible things, destroying people’s lives and consistently breaking the law and yet we never get to see the victims of the situation. It appears that director, Scorsese is insisting you bond with the character and get to know him but it isn’t that easy. There are times where you really can’t connect with him and I often did not care what happened to him in the end. Morally, he's hateful and therefore the content just doesn't interest you. At 3 hours long, this is obviously problematic. Supposedly, Scorsese struggled to get the running time down under 3 hours. My question is why? From one viewing it is easy to see that there are plenty of unnecessary scenes that could've been cut; for example, the countless sex scenes and drug taking. After the first hour, everyone has got the message and, in my situation, doesn’t want anything to do with it anymore. We know what he is like. We know what is going on in his life. We know he’s a drug addict. We know he has plenty of money to waste. There is no longer any need to tell us again and it is okay to move on and save everybody half an hour.

The portrayal of women is also an issue. We’re seeing a man's world and a man's life through a man's eyes. Women are constantly objectified and that just makes it even harder to see the appeal in his lifestyle. This all makes the real Jordan Belfort's cameo a little questionable. After seeing what he'd put people through and what an awful life he led I just wasn't sure if I wanted to see him have the opportunity to appear in the film.

The Wolf of Wall Street seemed a little unmediated. At any given moment there was a lot of "stuff" going on that was difficult to appreciate and often not that relevant to the story. However, it isn’t completely unenjoyable. DiCaprio’s central performance is funny and works well. There is a particular scene with him crawling to his car that was extremely funny. It undeniably lasted for far too long but it was entertaining. The relationship between Jordan Belfort and Donnie Azoff is also well done. Visually, the camera work was good too. It clearly reflects how the character is feeling throughout every situation.

I understand this review is quite negative and I didn’t find the film that spectacular but I’m not suggesting it isn’t worth a watch. It is definitely worth a go if you’ve got three hours to spare and if you have the patience to sit through it until the end. After all, it is almost more exhausting than it is entertaining.