'The Wolf Of Wall Street' A Review

The Wolf of Wall Street is a black comedy of greed, drug use, and decadence based on the memoir of Jordan Belfort. The film follows Belfort played by Leonardo DiCaprio, in his most unlikable and uncomplicated role, from his start on Wall Street to his founding of a penny stock company that launches him into the financial stratosphere.

The film is shot beautifully, scored perfectly, acted energetically, and paced flawlessly. The three hours does not feel long but it does lack substance. All the characters, save for Belfort's first wife who is in the film for less the ten minutes, are unlikable. They show little to no depth or complexity. All the characters are money-drunk and sex-crazed. Scorsese and DiCaprio claim the film is a comment on the Wall Street life style but there is no comment to be found.

The drug scenes, sex scenes, and scenes portraying grotesque wealth come off very cool. The way they are shot, the way they are scored, the inherent lack of consequence for any of the characters makes all the behavior seem almost acceptable and certainly fun. You get caught up in the hedonistic pleasure of it all only to check yourself and your left with a soiled feeling. There is also rampant misogyny throughout the film the most disturbing of which was an employee for Belfort shaving her head for $10,000.

The film does not simply show these behaviors as Scorsese claims, it glorifies them. It doesn't do it intentionally but the way the film was made, the quality of it, makes these terrible men and awful things they do seem thrilling.

Ultimately there is no point to the film. No comment. No story begging to be told. This story has been told a number of times over the past thirty years from Wall Street to Boiler Room to Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps with an actual point of view.

The Wolf of Wall Street is impeccable in its construction but soulless in its execution.

Don't See It.