Wolf of Wallstreet

Martin Scorsese and Leonardo DiCaprio team up again for the fifth time (Goodfellas. Aviator, the Departed and Shutter Island) for Wolf of Wall Street. Scorsese and DiCaprio were keen to do the project together several years ago, but it stalled in a tug of war between two production houses namely Warner Bros and Paramount When that dragged on, Scorsese and DiCaprio made Shutter Island instead and that turned out to be a huge hit. So now the duo are back again for Wolf of wall street.

Based on the memoirs of Jordan Belfort - the real-life stock broker who made millions by selling shoddy stocks to common man - the film showcases one seriously messed-up sleaze ball of a man. A man's whose ambition sweeps him into a debauchery where money, substance abuse and corruption, which inevitably leads to his own undoing. Similar to gangster’s lives and mafia, only difference is, here it is done by guys who wear suits, work in proper offices and all they do is just business, white-collar criminals.

The movie focuses and follows a person closely who rises to power, evil schemes which bring in pots of money and then lives a life of extreme excess. So extreme that the movie is packed with drugs, sex, luxury and material things, and characters who just want to consume just everything. These wolfish characters go into uncontrollable partying and debauchery .The gags and comedy set pieces click well. Some scenes like chest thumping during the conversation during lunch between Dicaprio and McConoughey , whole DiCaprio high on Lemonnon 714 episode or the Yatch scene with FBI agents will be remembered for a long time.  The film tries to criticize the modern capitalist urge while also acknowledge the excitement and glamour of it when indulged to an extreme level. The good part about the rise of Belfort’s drug aided financial odyssey is that it doesn’t amount to anything, no weight. Hence, there is no reason for us care.

It’s a solid story with many characters and subplots which will certainly load you with information yet it’s pretty smooth. The movie is almost 3 hours long and some may feel that the frequently repeated party scenes can be trimmed but i feel it is necessary to show the cynical nature of the ongoing excess. Those scenes are incredibly memorable and entertaining. It was hilarious throughout. One cannot help but smile for the most of the duration of the runtime. It is a complete joy but is marred little due to Indian censor boards constant nagging of 'smoking kills' ads on screen and the movie has been cut 6 minutes for the audience here. Due to this some scenes end abruptly and topless scenes are blurred. It is irritating but essence of the movie can be felt overall.

There is still more to the movie than bombardment of excess. Scorsese does make characters to have important conversation with one another, allow moments to develop and allow scenes to breath. The Wolf of Wall Street doesn't say anything new or path-breaking about the corruption in capitalism. It’s about depiction and experience of the excess and how each person reacts. The main drive of the movie and its characters is to make money and be successful by any means whatsoever which eventually leads to hard-hitting annihilation. Many people criticize the unilateral nature of the film. We only see the position of Belfort and none of the countless victims that he and his colleagues made. From a technical standpoint, this film does understand the story continues to follow. Exciting and better. We may wonder whether the film is critical enough to the many criminals and that's actually not the case. We get an insight, an exclusive look at the snorting and exorbitant lifestyle. In addition, as many people would swap their life for that of a Wall Street trader, selling the soul take them for granted.

Anytime Scorsese and DiCaprio team up, they always strike gold. Scorsese is on fire here, Di Carpio and Scorsese share such a good rapport that translates into screen very well. The movie wouldn't be half good if either one of them weren't a part of the movie. This movie has a chilled out tone throughout and probably Scorsese's funniest film to date. Di Caprio is as always amazing, he slipped into the character very well. He is wild, unleashed and uninhibited. The first person narration was fantastic and we got the whole story through Belfort’s eyes. The movie portrays Belfort as the poster boy of American greed, and Leonardo brings him to life. Superlative performance. Rest of the cast pulls their weight well as well. Jonah Hill gives convincing as Belfort's partner, Kyle Chandler as an agent who wants to nail down Belfort is good and Rob Reiner as 'Mad Max' and Matthew McConaughley in his short role are terrific. Margot Robbie plays a shrewd version of Scarlett Johansson's diva role in Don Jon .She is wonderful in her big-screen debut.

The photography is great and editing by Thelma Schoonmaker who is a longtime associate to Scorsese is good. Though the film has almost 3 hours run time, it is entertaining and time just flies. Writing is sharp; the film is full of superb lines and great speeches. The sets, costumes, props for the film all look great which helps in giving the display in the film a vibrant and full of life look. Music is used well for the intended effect. Terence Winter’s screenplay based on the book are perfect and the dialogues are hilarious yet thought provoking which are worthy of appreciation.

To sum up, The Wolf of Wall Street is a thrilling, comprehensive, funny and disturbing. It is too long and far too short. Martin Scorsese has completed a trilogy of sorts with this film, other being casino and Goodfellas which run in similar vein. The movie would have so much more fun if not for Indian censor but due to the long run time, censored version does provide a wild ride to an extent.