The Wolf of Wall Street Martin Scorsese and Leonardo Di Caprio both work really hard to bring their best to the party for this 3 hour epic based on the life/memoirs of Jordon Belfort, a stockbroker who wormed his way to a personal fortune and a reputation for corruption and decadence during the 80s and 90s. Scorsese brings all his usual style to a film that seems to celebrate the excesses of the period and DiCaprio enjoys throwing
himself in to the role of a morally bankrupt trader who swapped his ill-gotten fortune for a stretch behind bars. It is bold, brash and, in parts depraved and the 3 hour run time is definitely an issue, several scenes dragging more than they should. There are some great performances, Di Caprio, Jonah Hill and Margot Robbie pull out all the stops. Matthew McConaughey makes a brief but cringingly memorable appearance and visually, there is a lot to see, many scenes packed to bursting as a Scorsese 'to camera rant' plays out in the foreground. Excess is on show everywhere, in the direction, the morals and the language. I found it hard to sympathise with or even like any of the characters and, having nobody to root for, the bagginess was enough to take the gloss off what could have been a classic Scorsese masterpiece. Edit it down to a 2hr depraved romp.
7 out of 10.
Cert 18 ( uk )
180mins
Good review Phil. This is mainly Leo's show for the taking. He just runs wild with it for every second he's on screen and it's totally worth watching.
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