Film Review: THE WOLF OF WALL STREET

It felt as if I had jumped headlong into a Harold Robbins novel

Cast: Leonardo DiCaprio, Matthew McConaughey, Jonah Hill, Cristin Milioti, Margot Robbie
Director: Martin Scorsese

One more film recommended by Vignesh. Venkat and I went along with him for the late night show at Cinemax on Tuesday.

THE STORY

The film is based on the memoirs of Jordan Belfort who became a millionaire many times over as a stock broker on Wall Street.

Jordan Belfort (Leonardo DiCaprio) joins a well established stock broking firm on Wall Street and is all raring to go, egged on by his boss Mark (Matthew McConaughey). Mark also teaches him that drugs and women will keep a stock broker free from the stress created by the high flying life of a stock broker. Jordan takes Mark at his word and takes to the market like duck to water.

Things take a downward trend when his company closes down after Black Friday. Encouraged by his wife Teresa (Cristin Milioti), Jordan joins an Investor Centre on Long Island that deals in penny stocks. He proves to be a great salesman and makes a lot of money. Soon, he joins his neighbour Donnie (Jonah Hill) to start his own firm. They take on board a few more friends who are actually drug dealers. Soon, their company flourishes trading in penny stocks.

Jordan goes from strength to strength and makes millions. He falls for Naomi (Margot Robbie) and divorces Teresa to marry her.

But how long can a company run on fraudulent transactions last?

MY PERCEPTION

Despite being warned, it look me a while to calm down listening to every single dialogue peppered with the f-word. Combined with drugs and debauchery, it felt as if I had jumped head long into a Harold Robbins novel.

But then, the film is based on Mr. Jordan Belfort’s lifetime memoirs and no one can help it for being what it is.

Apart from that, one has to appreciate how well the story has been handled. A special Kudos to Martin Scorsese!

Leonardo DiCaprio has been growing from strength to strength. While I have only seen his film Titanic, I have heard rave reviews about Inception. The actor was simply amazing as Jordan Belfort. I so enjoyed listening to his sales pitches and motivating speeches minus the bad language. It could really set one’s blood soaring to achieve something.

Set in a time (1980s-90s) when money played God in everyone’s life, Jordan is a go-getter who would stop at nothing to achieve his dream of being a millionaire. One redeeming quality that he has is that he wants all the people around him to get rich too.

But going against the law can lead to only one thing and finally he lands up in prison. Then again, he proves that money can get one out of any situation and gets a royal treatment in jail too.

An awesome story with a superb performance by Leonardo DiCaprio playing the hero! All the others in supportive roles were also excellent. I liked the way the story goes back and forth in time, making for an interesting watch. The film ran for 2 hours & 54 minutes and I seriously can’t remember when the time flew so fast while watching such a long film.

Leonardo DiCaprio has already won the Golden Globe for this performance. Martin Scorsese also stands an excellent chance of winning the Best Director’s award for 2013.

VERDICT: It’s a must see if you like crime fiction. I enjoyed the experience.

RATING: **** Snazzy

* Silly
** Shaky
*** Smart
**** Snazzy
***** Super