The Wolf of Wall Street: Excess Perfected
The Wolf of Wall Street is grandiose absurdity told by a director at the top of his game. Wolf does not celebrate the villains but shows how ambitious and ridiculous the circumstances were. It is the story of indefensible people thriving on excess and greed. The movie is a circus and Martin and Leo are the ringleaders. Where else will you see a movie involving mind reading, shipwrecks and a five-minute Quaalude induced crawling scene?
Wolf centers around Leonardo DiCaprio’s character Jordan Belfort rising to wealth via the brokerage house Stratton Oakmont. Belfort is a real life criminal/drug addict who trained an army of acolytes to swindle millions from the rich and give to themselves. These idiots armed with phones and scripts made millions and spent most of it on drugs, prostitutes, summer homes and more drugs. One particular scene features a women shaving her head for $10,000 whilst insanity in the form of drugs and sex takes place around her. In the end, she seems shocked but high from the experience.
Scorsese creates moments that are so far out there it is hard to take the debauchery seriously. The comedic aspects of the film allow immense drug highs, incest and an incredible amount of F-bombs to be humorous. For instance, arguments about adultery lead into unexpected laughs that allow DiCaprio to flex his gonzo comedic chops and disappear into the role.
The Wolf of Wall Street is intoxicating. There are highs and lows that lead to a draining yet amazing roller coaster experience. Scorsese and Leo have fit a comfortable groove and this is the best work they’ve done together. Also, Jonah Hill, Margot Robbie, Jon Bernthal, Kyle Chandler, Rob Reiner, Matthew McConaughey and Jean Dujardin are all fantastic.
Wolf is a fantastic examination of financial growth and greed. It highlights how enterprising idiots preyed on ambition and picked off the slowest of the pack. The movie does become intoxicating in its deprivation but that shouldn’t be taken as cool.
Watch. Enjoy. Be excited for the four-hour cut!
Movies, Films & Flix 
Good review. It’s a long movie, but it never lost my interest a single bit. That has to do with the fact that both Scorsese and Leo are on their A-games here and never lose sight of what matters most: Making sure everybody is entertained, even as dirty and vulgar as it may be.
I somehow STILL haven’t seen this. I’m dying to though. This solid review just makes it worse…hahaha. I wish it was on Time Warner on demand!