Review

The Wolf of Wall Street is the true story of Jordan Belfort – A 90’s stockbroker who lived the decadent lifestyle of a Wall Street Stockbroker… fell from grace and wrote his memoirs about it thereafter. This movie is his story…

Story: So it’s wild. Adapted from memoirs, but, the writers do a good job of selecting the events that have the most impact. Every bit of it is over the top, but, that lifestyle had/has the reputation/potential to be over the top… and in excess.

There’s been some criticism of how severe this movie gets, and, it is somewhat annoying at times. But, the reality is… people who live like this and act like this are generally annoying. Money or not, drugs control the conversation…

Performances: Leonardo DiCaprio and Jonah Hill are out front and fully exposed. Especially Jonah Hill. I’m gonna give him a nod because, he caused a reaction in me. It was disgust, but, a reaction is the goal. Matthew McConaughey too, but, Jonah Hill should get an Oscar nomination. McConaughey’s performance, while slimey, is too brief to be significant. Leo DiCaprio should also get a nomination – his portrayal is well played.

Visual: I can’t say enough times how decadent this movie is. Lots of drugs, lots of parties and profane language in every scene. This is not the type of movie with picturesque scenes… it turns on the costumes in this case. Wardrobe does their job…

Rating: I’m gonna give this a B-. It’s not run-of-the-mill, but, the overindulgence is a bit off-putting. Apparently, the movie now has the title of dropping the F bomb the most in cinematic history – 569 times. Only eclipsed by a documentary on the word which logs 857 references, so, it doesn’t really count. Previous record held by Summer of Sam at 435 times.

Your ears might bleed… your eyes too. I’ll let you decide if you want to see it, but, the new record is a fitting way to decide if it’s right for you…