"The Wolf of Wall Street" is the filthiest and most deplorable movie I've seen in my life. It offends, shocks, makes me question how any human being could do these criminal, unethical activities without remorse. It made me feel dirty...and that is exactly why you must see it. (Now, before I go any further, I must forewarn: this is NOT a kid's film. I know there are parents who are lax on the rating system, but the bombardment of prostitution, violence, foul language, and drug use is just too much. It simply is too inappropriate for a child to be allowed to see.)
Jordan Belfort (Leonardo DiCaprio) tells the story of his rise as a stockbroker in 1980's New York. Infamously nicknamed the "Wolf of Wall Street", he denotes his ambitious beginnings, the meteoric success of his firm, and the debaucherous excess the Wall Street life allows.
Scorsese excels at making period pieces; one of my favorite films is "Gangs of New York", where Scorsese rebuilds post-Civil War New York with a size, scope, and attention to detail that blows me away. The same qualities apply here: stock footage is interwoven in monologues, Jordan shoots infomercials with VHS footage, and the less I say about Popeye, the better. The slick editing and playful cinematography mimics the over-the-top nature of 80's pop culture and fits the movie like a glove. I get immersed into a world that's equal parts realistic and glamorized.
Leonardo DiCaprio is firing on all cylinders; this is probably my favorite role of his. For Jordan's admirable wit, ambition, and awareness, his ego, pride, and greed infuriate me. This is a character DiCaprio engulfs himself in completely. He sells his philosophies, makes me laugh, and infuriates my sensibilities. Able to carry himself with impeccable confidence, flop around when dangerously high, and rage at the drop of a dime, my eyes were glued. He makes for a captivating performance.
My one issue is in the film's length. The beginning bombarded me with so many jokes, characters, and atmosphere of excess, when the movie slowed down, it felt like a massive crash after a drug trip. There were multiple scenes where characters would start riffing on a subject completely unrelated to the plot at hand. It reminded me of Tarantino, but where scenes like this in his movies felt off-the-cuff and spontaneous, this film felt like it was trying to make the audience laugh. All it did for me after the second time was bore me. The movie slowed to a halt at ninety minutes, and then shot back to life after twenty minutes of speeches. It was a chore.
I imagine after my initial statements about the movie's explicit nature, some of you are asking: "Daniel, when did you become the moral gatekeeper of America?" Simply put, I didn't. The movie didn't faze me after watching, but the group of friends I went with finished viewing with mouths agape in shock. Sitting in the theatre watching the credits, I couldn't quite place why not only this movie would shock them, but also why they, oddly enough, needed it. After the obligatory post-movie bathroom break, I came to a revelation.
We've all heard the saying, "pride goeth before the fall." From Antinous being shot through the neck while drinking from Odysseus' golden cup to Tony Montana's reign and furious dethroning as king of Miami, the story has been told and displayed many ways. "Scarface" is the first movie that comes to my mind when thinking of "The Wolf of Wall Street", and I see parallels. They both tackle the idea of blind ambition, greed, and the deterioration of an ideal American Dream into a flurry of excess and power mania. When "Scarface" was released, people regarded it as the benchmark for explicit. It shocked and offended many people, but as the years went on, the themes shown in the movie were talked about, analyzed. It got people thinking about how we define success and the American Dream. I believe "The Wolf of Wall Street" will be the same way. It shocks to get an audience's attention; the humorous tone sugarcoats the drama for a wider market.
Why does this film feel the need to be so explicit? Do audiences see "Scarface" as light fare now? When this barrage of images offends people, what does that say about our sensibilities? We can argue our society has fallen further into corruption and these types of films glamorize these morally deficient actions, but I think that's missing the point. These movies get dialogues started, they make us question the themes at hand. This interpretation of success has come back for us to re-evaluate, and if the story is constantly being repeated, it's probably cause we're not getting the right message and adapting it to our society. So if the execution needs to be over-the-top to get one's attention, I say go right ahead, because this conversation is important. So I say, go see this movie. It's quite the trip to take, but you're going to be thinking about what it's saying for a long time. Thank you all again very much for reading, I'm the Man Without A Plan, signing off.
"The Wolf Of Wall Street" trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pabEtIERlic
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