SPOILERS:
Wall Street: Greedy bankers, immoral brokers, big stakes and even bigger falls. An old movie subject that has been covered time and time again but with The Wolf of Wall Street, Martin Scorsese brings us a story that is very current in its themes and refreshing in its presentation. A cautionary tale that is both timeless and poignant, The Wolf of Wall Street is about much more than just the wrongdoings of a few people manipulating stocks. Scorsese’s latest is based on the real life escapades of Jordan Belfort (DiCaprio), a Wall Street stockbroker who got rich and then lost it all after allegations of fraud and corruption eventually took him down.
Fresh faced and newly married, the naive Belfort learns the ropes of the trade from eccentric mentor Mark Hanna (McConnaughey) and also quickly learns what it takes to succeed in the cutthroat crazy up and down world of Wall Street. After the crash of 1987 results in him finding himself unemployed, Belfort is desperate to get back in the game as a stockbroker and sees a way in with the barely regulated penny stocks market. Surrounding himself with seedy salesmen and drug dealers and utilizing his savvy and know-how, Belfort exploits a gap in the market and begins making some serious money. Suddenly all the doors that were once closed are flung open and Belfort begins to have a lot of trouble not sampling everything available through all of these new openings. Discarding his old wife and bagging himself a new and improved one along with a mansion, yacht...etc, Belfort begins to lead a life of shocking indulgence that starts to get the attention of FBI agent Patrick Denham (Chandler).
What Scorsese has done here is simply a remarkable achievement. This film is relentless and bombastic, the energy onscreen is contagious and it all makes for a truly great cinematic experience. And while this isn’t an outright comedy like After Hours or The King of Comedy, this might also just be the funniest movie of Scorsese’s career. Much of the humour (a lot of it improvised) is derived from some great dialogue and scenes involving Belfort and his fellow cohorts, and lots of laughs come from a sense of shock at the unbridled excess on display. But amidst the laughter, Scorsese asks difficult questions from his audience and puts our own terrible capacities and impulses at the forefront. He delves deep into the dark hidden recesses of human desire, of the insatiable wants and needs that we all have but are afraid to admit exist. By following the story of Belfort, this film asks what kind of person you have to be to find success in his world and whether or not that success and lifestyle is worth it. What Scorsese then proceeds to show us is that living like Belfort has a price and takes its toll.
Tired of being poor his whole life, Belfort accepts his new lifestyle wholeheartedly and vows to never look back. But as repulsive and repugnant as his behavior is, lots of credit is due to DiCaprio for giving Belfort a likeability and affability of sorts. And while the motivational speeches he makes for his brokers throughout the film are ugly and almost animalistic in their narcissism and capricious greed, they are also oddly inspirational. Belfort is a man who flouts many of society’s norms and conventions but possesses a freedom in doing so that many people secretly desire. He does what he wants and satisfies every carnal urge and every craving and impulse but it is at a pivotal point of this film that we realize how addictive and destructive that lifestyle is. His love life and relationships are hollow and empty for the most part. Belfort’s brokerage is a snake pit of competition and deception; it’s all about self preservation and getting yourself the best deal possible. Belfort reaches his moment of truth when he can win and walk away from it all but he just can’t bring himself to do it and we groan when he makes that fateful decision. Why should the rollercoaster every stop running? Why stop when you can have more, more, more?!
One argument that has been leveled against The Wolf of Wall Street is that its main character doesn’t have as compelling an arc or as spectacular a fall as one would expect in this story. Structure-wise, it doesn’t stray very far from the template Scorsese utilized in Goodfellas and Casino. In those films, we follow the rise and fall of protagonists who live unconventional lives unapologetically and ultimately reap what they sow. People are fascinated with stories of criminals who live outside the law and violate cultural taboos of right and wrong because they secretly fantasize about doing so as well. The difference here is that, for all intents and purposes, Belfort pretty much gets away with it. A deeply flawed and out of control character, Belfort loses his wife and children and goes to jail (albeit a white collar one) but you never get a sense that Belfort truly gets his comeuppance or learns much of anything. But perhaps that’s the point Scorsese is trying to make. This film has gotten criticism from many circles about how it glorifies and almost gleefully revels in the actions of Belfort and his cohorts but those making such an argument are missing the point of The Wolf of Wall Street. It should also be noted that while there is some truth behind this story, this movie isn’t too interested into sticking to the actual facts. This movie is more a statement about a society where men like Belfort can thrive and find success than about the machinations of Wall Street itself. People like him are condemned and demonized but they will always possess currency and value in our society because they have a secret that many people want to get in on. We live in a society where people hate and revile the elite 1% but at the same time, the rest of the 99% are desperate to join their ranks. After an article paints Belfort as a “Wolf” preying on the gullible and weak, any fears of negative publicity prove to be unfounded as the notoriety and promise of riches attracts even more people to his supposedly “immoral” institution. Get rich by any means you rationalize as acceptable is the message here. It is a rationalization that many people will find sickening and deplorable. But in practice, it is a very easy one to make.
This brings us to the ending. The last image of this film packs a wallop and imparts a deeply biting criticism. By putting up a mirror on us, the audience, we are put on trial as well. We live in a world where motivational speakers and get rich quick schemes are all the rage. As Belfort exclaims in one of his speeches: “I want you to deal with your problems by being rich.” And this is the mentality that many of us, whether we want to admit it or not, have. In the very end, despite his chequered past and his bilking of countless people, everyone is hanging on Belfort's every word. Cut to FBI agent Denham, an upright man who seeks justice and does the right thing but ends up exactly where he started off: taking the long subway ride home.
Verdict: With The Wolf of Wall Street, Martin Scorsese, perhaps the greatest American director still working in Hollywood, adds another masterpiece to a filmography that is already chock full of them. Throw in perhaps the best and most natural performance of Leonardo DiCaprio’s career and you have the makings of what might just a modern classic.
A
Trailer:
Movie info:
Runtime: 159 minutes
MPAA Rating: R
Cast: Leonardo DiCaprio, Jonah Hill, Margot Robbie, Kyle Chandler
Director: Martin Scorsese
Screenplay: Terence Winter
Cinematography: Rodrigo Prieto
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