THE WOLF OF WALL STREET clocks in at over 3 hours long, but while watching, I never felt the need to slip out of the cinema and go for a bathroom break, I never even so much as looked at my watch. I was just so utterly immersed in the rise and fall of Jordan Belfort and his shady stock-market empire that the runtime flew by.
Gleefully amoral, and laden with sex, drugs and expletives, THE WOLF OF WALL STREET is an epic of excess and depravity, pushing the envelope of bad taste to such extremes you can't believe it's a director in his 70s that's made it. Martin Scorsese is an elder statesman these days, a cinematic institution that one might safely assume has by now been thoroughly absorbed into the mainstream. But here, Scorsese reminds us that he is the same edgy Hollywood outsider who made TAXI DRIVER and RAGING BULL. And in terms of craft, he's not content to rest on his laurels, still experimenting with dizzying new cinematic techniques. For all the talk of newer generations of directors staking claims to being "the new Scorsese" by emulating the style of the auteur in his prime, with THE WOLF OF WALL STREET he flips that perception on its head and leaves it look like his pretenders are still coughing up his dust and playing catch-up. THE WOLF OF WALL STREET is one of the best films Scorsese has ever done, certainly his best since GOODFELLAS. He's aided by a razor-sharp, hilarious script from Terence Winter - I can't emphasize enough that this is also the FUNNIEST film I've seen in ages - and a leading man equally bold and fearless.
If there was any doubt that Leonardo DiCaprio is just as worthy a muse for Scorsese than his predecessor, Robert DeNiro, this film should silence it. DiCaprio has been one of the most consistently great leading men in movies for the past decade, but he still doesn't always get the credit he's due. Jordan Belfort is the performance of his career. Totally OTT and vile in a way that's reminiscent of James McAvoy's deliciously wicked turn in FILTH, DiCaprio puts on a masterclass here. From taking copious amounts of drugs, to rutting like a clumsy animal, to snogging Joanna Lumley, the movie is packed full of things you never thought you'd see Leo do. He also displays a knack for physical comedy that provides some of the film's standout sequences. And I say shameless, because we're never supposed to see Belfort as anything more than a pig, all money and no class. The naysayers will say this film glamourises all the corruption on display, but clearly they're not watching closely enough, as we're not supposed to find Belfort cool. We're supposed to find him obscene. And the film repeatedly casts a critical eye on those drawn in by his facade. The film is also blessed with a great supporting cast, best of all Jonah Hill, also at career-best form.
I never thought that a film on the Oscar Best Picture shortlist would too 12 YEARS A SLAVE for me, but THE WOLF OF WALL STREET has done it. Not that it's likely to win: it seems to have been frozen out of winning most of the top categories at the big awards shows, and there have been reports of booing and mass walkouts during awards screenings. That's understandable, as this doesn't offer the triumph or catharsis that more awards-friendly films do, and is likely too horrid to be palpable to the Academy's tastes. But it doesn't need awards - it's instant classic status is assured.
t: I think it's all that's missing before he starts getting hailed as a genius. Especially as he likes his biopics of major MEN throughout history. Maybe he should do biopics of significant teenagers throughout history for now. Seriously I love this guy and that boyband style era was very frustrating for me, especially when normal cinemagoers keep bringing it up years after as a reason why he's not a serious actor. Most of them have quietened down by now at least.
