Most critics list of best working directors would include Martin Scorsese. If you look at his body of work between Mean Streets in 1973 and After Hours in 1985 that makes perfect sense. The next 10 years were a bit leaner but included bone fide classics Goodfellas and Casino. Since then, his output has been pretty mediocre. Having said that, the early glowing reviews of his new movie, The Wolf of Wall Street, raised my expectations. I have to admit that at over 70 years of age, Scorsese shows and technical flair, freshness and energy that shames most younger directors.
This is the story of Jordan Belfort, played by Leonardo DiCaprio, as he rises from fresh faced young stockbroker to Wall Street guru, earning close to $50m a year. Nothing is left to the imagination as Belfort and his colleagues hedonistic lifestyles are laid bare. For a film depicting an out of control lifestyle, maybe it is fitting that the film itself is a rambling three hours long.
Unfortunately, for all its visual style, that leads to a lack of rigour in the storytelling, and a lot of repetitious scenes of sex, drinking, and drug taking. So, what you a left with are a number of excellent individual scenes:
– Belfort’s lunch with his boss on his first day on Wall Street
– His first sale at the downscale Investor’s Centre
– Belfort’s father being interrupted whilst watching The Equaliser on TV
– His first encounter with FBI agent Patrick Denham, on his luxurious boat
– His overdose at a country club
There is a lack of a compelling narrative between those scenes. Smarter editing down to two hours might have produced a film to rank alongside Scorsese’s best efforts. Although a limited actor in many ways, DiCaprio does a decent job of portraying Belfort. Also Oscar nominated is Jonah Hill as his right hand man, Donnie, and after his great performance in Moneyball, I was disappointed with him here. He relies too much on his tiresome and familiar comedy shtick.
Much better are Margot Robbie and an underused MacKenzie Meehan as their wives, a gloriously funny Rob Reiner as Belfort’s Dad and Kyle Chandler as Denham. Although only in a couple of scenes, predictably the most memorable turn is by Matthew McConaughey as Belfort’s first boss. So, in the end, this was a frustrating experience. Much to enjoy but a nagging feeling that it could have been so much better.
Rating: 6 out of 10