The Wolf of Wall Street

Plot: Jordan Belfort (Leonardo DiCaprio) began as a stock broker who he got fired, and began to sell penny stocks at his own firm using deception and high pressure sales techniques. He fired up his high pressure sales people with alcohol, cocaine, and prostitutes. Soon he is rolling in money, divorces his first wife, amps up his drug use, buys a yacht, and marries model-pretty Naomi (Margot Robbie.) He attracts the FBI's attention, and tries to avoid getting caught.  [imdb]    [photos]

Review: Wolf of Wall Street is a wild ride about preying on people, both the investors and the women be they strippers, prostitutes, girlfriends or wives. It shows constant drunkeness, drugs, and naked girls -- and a constant contempt of un-suspecting investors who get cheated out of their money. Interspersed among the wildness, like little TV commercials, is monolog or dialog to advance the story. At first, its funny in a satirical way. As the drunken, drug-fueled, sex parties blur together, there is a dreariness - which might have been Director's Scorsese's intention.

A highlight is how good Jordan is at firing up his people. His speeches, as delivered by DiCaprio, really are inspirational. You can see why these sales people were so captivated. Later as his world is crumbling, DiCaprio paints a clever salesman/conman determined to preserve himself -- top performance. 

Jordan, the wolf, feeds on women just like investors. In addition to multitudes of strippers and prostitutes, his two wives are treated badly too.  Director Scorsese is showing the predatory behavior toward women, but it is over-the-top like The Great Gatsby's parties, as if he wants the audience to enter into the debauchery. One wonders what the women sales people were thinking. There always were women on his sales team, and they seemed to roll with it. 

There are funny scenes -- sit-com humor where the ridiculous situations just become laughable. One of these is when Leonardo becomes so drunk he can't stand, and must wiggle across the floor, through a door, and down steps to his car. Very funny.  

I liked Jonah Hill -- but my wife found him too annoying to be funny. Margot Robbie starts out as eye candy, but gets some substantive scenes before the end: a token bit of feminism.  Visuals are unexceptional -- but I did like the early party scene with a marching band in their underwear. 

There are two messages; that working hard without morals can make your rich, and an Occupy Wall Street, anti-one percent message that rich people don't play by the same rules. 

Cast: Leonardo DiCaprio, Jonah Hill, Margot Robbie

Directed by: Martin Scorsese

Based on the book by Jordan Belfort

Rating: 3.25 stars: I can't decide. I was weary of all the partying, but plot kept moving, and the suspense at the end was real. I wondered how well this represented the financial services industry. The message raises the score a little, but the misogyny drops it down. Leo was good, and the sales culture was interesting. In the end, there is a lot to talk about, so that is why the extra quarter star. 

  +1/4

More: It makes me think about the ethic of brokerage houses, and whether I should do business with them. 

Even more: Leo deserves a best actor nomination. 

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