The Wolf of Wall Street

In my mind, The Wolf of Wall Street completes a trilogy of films by Martin Scorsese centered around crime as a means to achieving the American Dream.  What started with the straightforward crime of Goodfellas and was continued in the world of gambling with Casino has now concluded in the world of white collar crime.

The Wolf of Wall Street is easily one of the best films of 2013 and is hands down its greatest comedy.  Scorsese films usually have moments of wicked humor, but he hasn't directed a full-on comedy since the mid-80s.  It's a delight to see that the man has not lost his touch. 

The story revolves around real-life criminal Jordan Belfort's rise and kinda fall.  He arrives in New York ready to make a career on Wall Street.  But in no time, he is taught how to make serious money via questionable methods.  Questionable soon becomes fully illegal which is how the big bucks are made. 

The Wolf of Wall Street also brings us Leonardo DiCaprio's best performance.  He is stellar.  DiCaprio covers so much emotional range and a whirwind of tonal shifts with what appears to be great ease.  It's as if he was born to play Jordan Belfort.  Jonah Hill also knocks it out of the park.  And when he and DiCaprio are on screen together, it's electric and hilarious.  Matthew McConaughey has a small but brilliant role.  He essentially mentors the idealistic Belfort in the real workings of selling stock.  His message is essentially that of Alec Baldwin in The Glengarry Glen Ross (watch this movie) albeit more paternal.  Once Belfort has reached the height of success, he regurgitates that message again but with the manic energy that comes from mountains of cocaine.  It's a film full to the brim with virtually flawless performances.

It's refreshing to see a return to form from Martin Scorsese.  His past several films have been mired in stylistic references to other films.  It's not as intrinsic to his style as Quentin Tarantino, and it's been more prevalent than his pre-Gangs of New York movies.  But whereas Tarantino draws from exploitation films of the 60s and 70s, Scorsese pulls from the canonical classics from the entire cinema history.  I'm sure that there are flourishes in The Wolf of Wall Street that callback classic films, but it's not so obvious this time.  The Wolf of Wall Street feels like fresh vision from a master of the craft.  This doesn't feel like the work of a man in his 70s.

The Wolf of Wall Street is a must-see film.  It's definitely not for the kids.  There's more drug consumption and nudity in it than I've seen in a film in a long while.  But don't let that get in the way of an incredible film that serves as the greatest cinematic condemnation of capitalism run amok in the last few decades.  I'll be revisiting this movie a lot.

9 out of 10