Film Review: The Wolf of Wall Street

The Wolf of Wall Street is Martin Scorsese’s 23rd feature film and even with the director entering his twilight years, he proves that he can still pack a punch. Based on the memoirs of the morally deprived New York stockbroker Jordan Belfort, Scorsese is reunited once again with Leonardo DiCaprio for what is arguably one of the best, yet most controversial, films he has ever made.

The Wolf of Wall Street is a very welcome return to the gangster genre for Scorsese. But these gangsters aren’t the hot-headed wise guys of Goodfellas or Casino. Rather, Scorsese trains his cross-examining spotlight onto stock brokers and investment bankers, using the almost unbelievable tale of Belfort to turn their rituals up to eleven. These guys are quick on the dial rather than quick on the draw. 

Narration from the film’s lead and the signature blues soundtrack are all Scorsese trademarks, but to consider The Wolf of Wall Street as simply a pastiche of Goodfellas would be criminally underselling the film. What makes it stand on its own hind legs is that it's also the funniest film Scorsese has ever made. 

Lasting bang on three hours, you’d expect the smug, drug-addled, orgy of anti-heroism that is DiCaprio’s Belfort to grow tiresome. However, from a game of midget-tossing to a demonstration of taking out-of-date drugs, every scene bests the last as Belfort and his pack of money-hungry wolves indulge in every adolescent fantasy conceivable. 

Even his bragging asides, where he talks down to the audience, are so full of wit and cheek that you both laugh with, and hate, his character. It’s a full on performance that could hopefully lead to Leo finally winning that Oscar he has deserved for the past twenty years – although my money says that he won’t. 

Much of the humour stems from the runaway dialogue and more importantly the improvisational skills of the supporting cast. Matthew McConaughey appears all too briefly in a scene stealing performance as the inspiration behind Belfort’s money making dreams. And Jonah Hill is hilarious as Belfort’s all too eager partner in crime Donnie Azoff.

Naturally, the film has come under fire, with some criticising it for reveling in the scandalous antics of Jordan Belfort and not giving the full picture of his actions. Indeed not once does the film show what is happening on the other end of the telephone to those who are giving up their hard earned money to rogue traders for these “pump-and-dump” scams. 

In response to the backlash, DiCaprio and Scorsese are selling The Wolf of Wall Street as a “cautionary tale”, but not one that warns us off giving into the temptation of being consumed by greed. Instead, it’s a tale that warns us that characters like Belfort do exist within our financial system, and that realistically they will never get the justice they truly deserve.

Reviewed for The Big List NI