Director:
Martin Scorsese
Cast:
Leonardo DiCaprio, Jonah Hill, Margot Robbie
Scorsese's
latest flick has been slated by the critics for its excessive use of sex,
nudity and drugs. In my honest opinion, I thought this was used for an
intelligent reason, because the critics viewed the film as an irresponsible
glorification of the excessive lifestyle it depicts, but really it’s viewed as
a satirical biography. These bizarre complaints hopefully will fade away as
this is arguably one of Scorsese’s best works.
Let’s
start off with the narrative. Yes, it’s just over 3 hours long and you would
think it will drag on and get dull eventually, but this film offers so much
adrenaline you will be entertained throughout the film. Based on a true story,
the main character Jordan Belfort (DiCaprio) climbs up the ladder at Wall
Street as a stockbroker, starting off earning his broker’s license, then
opening a firm with his friend Donnie Azoff (Hill), Stratton Oakmont, which
suddenly becomes a billion dollar company, thanks to Belfort’s aggressive
pitching style manipulating the finance market and of course, engaging security
fraud. They then begin to lead this lifestyle of depravity with parties, sex
and drugs in the workplace and in their personal lives. The first two hours
have so much adrenaline and entertainment, then the last hour offers so much
impact and it feels depressing in the end. All in all, this narrative spanning
in 3 hours seems dull; a lot of critics panning the film because of its time
length, but Scorsese have covered a lot of improvised scenes and hilarious
moments, enough to get us hooked.
The
acting is superb with the ensemble cast. DiCaprio as Belfort seems odd for him,
going for a comedic role, but he’s done really well portraying Belfort. He’s
aggressive, fun and energetic throughout the film. Seeing him high is
undoubtedly the funniest moment in the film. Especially in one certain scene
where Belfort and Azoff take an extremely powerful Quaalude pill called “Lemmon”
and you guess what happens next, with side-splitting results. With supporting
actor Hill on his side, the slapstick humour is uproariously brilliant and the
chemistry between them is contagious. So many memorable scenes in the film; the
“wolf” humming with McConaughey, the heated but comical argument between Azoff
and Brad, eventually this will be a cult classic in the future.
Now
I get what the critics are complaining about, the sex scenes. There were at
least 10 sex scenes and a lot of nudity in the film and it was very graphic,
but in my opinion, it didn’t really take over the whole narrative and wasn’t
distracted by it, it was highly inappropriate but it sets the comedic humour to
it; the first sex scene with Belfort and his hot wife Naomi Lapaglia (Robbie)
was so quick you will burst with laughter. The excessive use of drugs was again
used for comedic effect so I had no issue with it. Other than that, the
cinematography is vibrant, a lot of good looking sets, props and costumes. And
as always, Scorsese always chooses the perfect varied mix of songs to work
really well in the narrative. If you take this film seriously or have a short
attention span, you will definitely hate it, but if you’re open minded then you’ll
have fun watching this instant classic.
Overall:
Comedic performances, memorable scenes filled with adrenaline, sex scenes,
drugs uses, and excessive use of the word “fuck”; this is dark black comedy at
its best. Dynamic duo Scorsese and DiCaprio have done such an incredibly funny
film. However, compared to Scorsese's other masterpieces, this film might take a little bit of getting used to.
9/10
In Theatres January 17th
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