Martin Scorsese’s Wolf of Wall Street – Review

Taking the box office’s second place with $9.3 million in earnings on Christmas day, Martin Scorsese’s coke-fueled, sex-crazed “The Wolf of Wall Street” has emerged as one of 2013’s leading films.

Three hours long but a non-stop joy ride, “Wolf” will surely have your blood racing and your heart pumping until the end. Indulge in the world of power hungry stockbrokers where business and greed have no boundaries. Scorsese’s new film tells the story of yet another soul who gives no observance to morality and ethics, in parallel to his fascination with gangs in movies such as “Goodfellas” or “The Departed”.

The movie tells the story of wealth and greed: fast cars, expensive estates, hard drugs and hot models; and in the middle of all that is Jordan Belfort (Leonardo DiCaprio), a middle-class business man in Wall Street who becomes the founder of a new firm on the block. The introduction opens with a first-person narrative voiceover of Jordan running through the events in his life. “The year I turned 26, I made $49 million, which really pissed me off because it was three shy of $1 million a week,” says Jordan, a line that gives the best taste of his personality. Set during the period of soaring stock markets in the 80s, Jordan joins a firm under the mentorship of the wealthy stockbroker Mark Hanna (Mathew McConaughey), who introduces the rookie into the world of coked-up business. Jordan gets a glimpse of the high life right before his job and revenue plummet with the market crash in 1987. A tactful and persuasive man, Jordan quickly picks up a rotting penny stock business and trains his neighbour Donnie Azoff (Jonah Hill), into starting up a new firm, Stratton Oakmont. A duo of deceit, Donnie and Jordan take the expressway to success and attract all the profit, drugs and girls of New York, with a hint of bad publicity. Through fraud and money laundering, Jordan and his rapidly growing firm face serious scrutiny from FBI agent Denham (Kyle Chandler). Descending from civility to savagery, decency to greed, “The Wolf of Wall Street” tells the story of Belfort’s rise and fall.

It’s no secret; Scorsese loves working with DiCaprio and vice versa. “If he’s interested in something, it’s usually something that I’d be interested in,” says Scorsese in the movie’s featurette. DiCaprio’s performance is once again extraordinary. Audience engagement hits a climax when DiCaprio gives a motivational speech at the office and inspiring his workers, as uniformly start beating their chests and humming the sounds of drums. The scene depicts greed as it swallows the workers leaving them nothing more than savages. There is question as to whether or not he will win an Oscar for his act, since the show was repeatedly stolen by the many astonishing performances from people such as Jonah Hill, Matthew McConaughey, Margot Robbie and Joanna Lumley; though Jonah Hill’s top-notch performance as Donnie Azoff, a disorderly yet rich man, is bound to get him at least a nomination for Best Supporting Actor.

Filled with dark humour and vulgar jokes, the movie also comes across as a brilliant comedy. Edgy, satirical, humorous and lustful, Scorsese is back in his beat and ready to engage the audience. The energy only dies out when the credits roll out.