The Wolf of Wall Street Review

Money talks dirty.

Film review by Isaac Handelman

Martin Scorsese's The Wolf of Wall Street is, purely from a filmmaking perspective, downright masterful. Clocking in at three hours, one would expect this colossal chronicle of Wall Street megalomaniac Jordan Belfort's atrocious escapades to grow tiresome and stale over the course of its duration, but Scorsese's flawless pacing ensures that the film is almost always quite engaging and is never boring. And yet, after Belfort's story has come to a close, I found myself feeling exhausted and sickened, and not entirely satisfied by what I saw. It's difficult to fault Scorsese for his brilliant work here, but Wolf is so absorbed in wretchedness that the experience as a whole suffers.

I take no issue with morally repugnant films, so long as a purpose exists for all the awfulness depicted onscreen. But Jordan Belfort's tale is not a downfall nor a story of comeuppance. Belfort starts bad and quickly falls to borderline-inhumane, where he remains for the entirety of the film. Faulting screenwriter Terrence Winter for the film' s low moral standing is difficult given the fact that Wolf is based on a book, itself a true story. That true story was written by the man behind the insanity, Jordan Belfort himself. Perhaps the filmmakers' error came in deciding to adapt Belfort's story in the first place, at least from such a personal point of view.

Viewers are not ever encouraged to root for Belfort, per se, but the film's perspective is relentlessly focused on his own, to the point where Belfort addresses the camera directly at multiple points throughout the film. This stylistic decision results in a film that is pervasively crass, rude, indulgent and offensive -- much like its main character. That's not unheard of in Hollywood, but what make's Wolf's insensitivity more troubling is the utter lack of repercussions, self-doubt, or regret of its "protagonist." This could lead the film to be dangerously misunderstood by uninformed viewers as a tale of grandiose escapism, the polar opposite of what the film should be seen as: a dark, white-collar crime film satirically condoning the behavior depicted on-screen.

And yet I'd be lying if I said I wasn't totally engaged in the experience throughout its entirety. Belfort's life story lends itself well to a narrative arc, and the script manages to maintain a brisk pace. The film is heavy on dialogue but has no shortage of visual dazzle to compensate. Scorsese's direction is kinetic, with amusing moments of slow-motion, impressive sweeping shots, and clever asides peppered in at all the right moments. The director wrangles fantastic performances out of his versatile cast, with the indisputable highlights being Leonardo DiCaprio as Belfort and Jonah Hill as Belfort's profanity-spewing sidekick (and partner in crime) Donnie Azoff.

DiCaprio is mezmerizing; shamelessly slimy, proudly declaring his sickening activities to the audience, and imbuing Belfort with an utter lack of likability to coincide with his atrocious behavior. But DiCaprio is so dynamic and infectiously confident in the role that he's a scene-eating presence. Hill's performance finds a strange middle ground between the immaturity of his earlier outings (think Superbad taken up a notch) and the wide dramatic range that he has more recently proven to possess in films like Moneyball. He's obviously quite devoted to his role here, and the dedication shines through in the form of Azoff's believably giddy affection for his idol.

One of Wall Street's most engaging performers who's bound to get overlooked in the hyper-kinetic shuffle of the film is Matthew McConaughey, who plays Mark Hanna, a Wall Street executive who inspires Belfort to go big, and gives the young man some key advice and the maxims to live by in order to achieve success in the dog-eat-dog environment. McConaughey's role is brief but memorable, serving as another impressive platform for the actor's career reinvention.

Wolf's alluring slate of performers sometimes works to soften its wild raucousness. Though much of the film comes across as absolutely sickening, plenty of instances of black comedy also shine through. These moments are the film's finest; it's still morally reprehensible, but manages intermittently to find comedy in the chaos.

Recommending The Wolf of Wall Street is a tall order. It walks a tightrope between black comedy and sickening indulgence that's lacking in punishment. Some will argue that Wolf's lack of morality is a hallmark of the real world, but too often the film showcases a depressing lack of empathy for those tossed aside by the destructive wake of Jordan Belfort's horrific actions. It's an exhausting film, and one that will leave you sickened just as often as it will make you laugh, if not more so (assuming that it's functionally properly in the moment). Scorsese has given us what will probably go down as one of the decades most divisive films, but one thing is for certain: the chronicle of Jordan Belfort's life story is not for the faint of heart. Even the strong-willed may leave the theater feeling worn out.

The Wolf of Wall Street is a great film, but I don't feel comfortable saying that I liked it.