Leonardo Di Caprio plays a stock broker who hits the big time and becomes rich in Martin Scorsese’s based-on-a-true-story The Wolf of Wall Street. Review after the jump.
The Wolf of Wall Street is quite possibly Martin Scorsese’s biggest film since 1990’s Goodfellas. Yes, The Departed is an excellent film that went on to win the Oscar for Best Film, but this movie is a whole different kettle of fish altogether; it’s rude, it’s crude, it’s funny and often brilliant.
Jordan Belfort (Di Caprio) manages to gain employment on Wall Street, but after the 1987 Wall Street crash, he is forced to look elsewhere. Desperate, he takes a job at a little firm selling penny stocks, which in turn gives him the aspirations to start his own firm – selling small stocks to people with big money, which then makes him incredibly rich, albeit illegally. As the saying goes though, ‘with great power comes great responsibility’ and Belfort has none. He spends money like there is no tomorrow, he becomes a drug addict and he indulges in sex with prostitutes all the time.
Of course, such actions gain the attention of the FBI, who then make it their mission to bring him to justice. 
Di Caprio has never been better than he is in The Wolf of Wall Street. He plays Belfort with incredible conviction, even during the funnier moments. Take for example his attempt at driving his Ferrari whilst completely high and doing (what he describes as) his Cerebral Palsy face. The scene is shocking yet hilarious at the same time, and this is just one instance of many that both Scorsese and Di Caprio hit the nail on the head.
The Wolf of Wall Street may be mostly about the story, direction and Di Caprio’s brilliant performance, but he is not alone. Jonah Hill shows why he has been nominated for a second time at the Oscars for another great supporting role, although his performance here as Donnie is much closer to the ones he has done in films such as Knocked Up and Superbad than the one he received for Moneyball. The world is currently talking about Margot Robbie and with good reason, she is beautiful and talented and The Wolf of Wall Street is just the start of what should be a fantastic career. We also can’t forget Matthew McConaughey. He is Di Caprio’s biggest opposition at this year’s Oscars for his role in Dallas Buyers Club, but he puts in another memorable one here as Belfort’s mentor – although he is off the screen after fifteen short minutes.
If you don’t like nakedness, then maybe the movie isn’t for you. You will see full frontal nudity, heterosexual sex acts, homosexual sex acts and masturbation throughout. If you don’t mind, you are in for a heck of a three hour ride.
Overall Thoughts:
The Wolf of Wall Street is crude and vulgar and brilliant. Scorsese is back on top form and Di Caprio has never been better.