The Wolf of Wall Street is three hours of debauchery, depravity, hilarity, drugs, sex, profanity and envelope pushing darkness.
And I loved it.
Based on a true story, WOLF tells the story of Jordan Belfort, who rose from apprentice stockbroker to mega-millionaire on the backs of worthless penny stocks and several ill begotten forays into IPOs in a stretch for legitimacy.
Leonardo DiCaprio is excellent in another terrific partnership with Martin Scorsese. He is 100% fearless in portraying the hunger, anger, abandon and animal like drive of Belfort as his lust for money, drugs and sex eat him alive.
Jonah Hill turns in another strong, hilarious performance as Belfort's right hand man Donnie Azoff. Hill sports some seriously bad 80's clothes and false buck teeth that augment some serious comic chops.
Margot Robbie (Pan Am) turns in a star-making performance as Jordan's second wife, Naomi. Their scenes together from first meeting through the downward spiral of addiction and sordid behavior all feel like an island of reality surrounded by an entertaining three ring circus of nasty behavior over the film's 180 fast minutes.
I have a friend who actually worked at Belfort's company as a low level "dialer" for two years and he says that they nailed Belfort's motivational speeches and Friday splashes of money in front of the office microphone, but in reality, he never saw strippers, a marching band in their underwear and dwarf tossing in the office.
When you have one of the best writers of The Sopranos (Terrence Winter), Scorsese working his "Goodfellas" & "Casino" mojo and Leo in the lead role, let's grant them a lot of artistic license.
Three other actors make a big splash in the film. Rob Reiner is pitch perfect, hilarious and earnest as Jordan's father, Kyle Chandler is great as FBI Agent Denham, on a quest to bring down Jordan's coke-fueled empire and Matthew McConaughey is dynamite as Jordan's first stock market role model, Mark Hanna. Their lunch scene on Jordan's first day of work sets the comic, smart, morally ambiguous tone for the whole film.
If you are easily offended, DO NOT see this film. It's a non-stop adult roller coaster ride of drugs, sex, profanity and nudity. However, not every film has to be family friendly.
I think its some of Scorsese and DiCaprio's best work together, second only to "The Aviator" for me.
Making a hilarious film with an under current this dark is a very tricky thing. A mix this potent creates a film with no middle ground. It's a marathon of bad behavior you will either love or hate.
I loved it and give these bad boys an A.
