I went to see the Wolf on Wall Street tonight. After spending 3 hours in the theater watching this relentless film, I am exhausted. Director Martin Scorsese is dealing with some heavy issues here such as money laundering, prostitution, drug abuse, and domestic abuse. The result is a heavy film that I don't recommend trying to lift.
The film starts off with sex and cocaine within the first 10 minutes and doesn't let down for the entire 3 hours. We see Mark Hannah (Mathew McConaughey) coked up while advocating a lifestyle of sex, drugs, and stocks to young Jordan Belfort (Leo DiCaprio). We then spend a very brief amount of time seeing Jordan Belfort becoming exactly the character of Mark Hannah as he devises a plan to sell penny stocks for high commissions and make a boat load of money. At first I thought this was going to be a tale of one man building his own version of the American Dream, but the film has Jordan Belfort coked up and wildly successful within the first half hour. Then I thought this was going to be a somber tale of how this lifestyle inevitably backfires, or a stand off duel between an intelligent Wall Street broker and the FBI. Unfortunately Leonardo DiCaprio's Belfort is presented as a drugged out idiot and makes it really hard to believe that he could possibly outsmart the FBI. If anything I thought to myself I actually already know what to do to avoid and FBI investigation (put all my money in an offshore account entitled to someone else and press the delete key over and over on my work computer). The real takeaway from the film is that Wall Street is a religion, one with so much promise that its hard to resist. Seeing an entire firm on brokers pounding their chests and praising their leader evokes a wildly passionate Christian Mass celebration. But if Christian's praise a life of virtue, the practitioners at Stratton Oakfort, Jordan Belfort's brokerage, praise the ability to sell stocks. The more potent scenes in the film involved the FBI agent who was investigating Belfort facing the temptation of this religion as he lives an honest life in the middle class.
I didn't realize this was a surprisingly true story, based on a novel written by the Jordan Belfort. That definitely ups the ante on the content of the film resonating. It reminds me a bit of the Goodfellas in that respect. A group of guys build fortunes breaking the law and adopt totally reckless lifestyles. In the Goodfellas I remember being really concerned for Henry Hill (Ray Liotta) at the end of the film. I also remember being totally astonished at the outcome of his life (what?! the witness protection program? he got off after only how long in jail?!). Pluse, the mob is a totally intimidating group of guys who will do anything to keep their power. In contrast, in Wolf we get a crazy group of assholes who need cocaine to come up with anything novel and probably don't know where the safety is on a gun. What's redeeming about these guys? Scorsese briefly suggests that these guys are so good at what they do that they deserve the worship they give each other. However, anytime an explanation is offered in the film for their brilliance, Jordan Belfort literally stops and says its not important. In the end, I'm left needing to watch Jordan Belfort's post jail motivational speeches in real life to know that answer.
Pros: Funny on occasion, clever overdubbing, Jonah Hill and Leonardo DiCaprio
Cons: Been here done that, way to long, on par with a soap opera in terms of drama, uninteresting characters
No comments:
Post a Comment