By Graham Osborne
This film is three hours long. It seems important to get that out the way as early as possible. It’s not a bad film, rather enjoyable in fact. But the length makes it very hard to sit through.
The Wolf of Wall Street is based on the life of Jordan Belfort and his making money through the stock market. The film also covers his marriage, extra-marital affairs and enough drugs to rival Scarface.
This film is three hours long. It seems important to get that out the way as early as possible. It’s not a bad film, rather enjoyable in fact. But the length makes it very hard to sit through.
The Wolf of Wall Street is based on the life of Jordan Belfort and his making money through the stock market. The film also covers his marriage, extra-marital affairs and enough drugs to rival Scarface.
A lot of people have lambasted the film because it doesn’t show any real downsides to Belfort’s lifestyle,if you don’t count the (Spoilers) prison time, large fines, multiple divorces and and continuous problems brought about by the drugs that permeate this film.
Scorsese’s directing is on top form, as always. And the cinematography is a visual delight, especially when using discontinuity to differentiate between sober and stoned. The music is indicative of the decades it covers, and helps to date the story as it trundles along. The only problem with this technique is, unless you are up to date with the musical styles and bands of the various eras being shown (late 80’s, 90’s and 00’s) you may get a bit confused to how much time has passed. Especially as the characters don’t really appear to age throughout the film, with the exception of Belfort’s children.
The characters themselves are larger than life. Leonardo Di Caprio, Jonah Hill and Matthew McConaughey all play Alpha Dog styled characters with such aplomb that you wouldn’t think twice about punching them in the face just to try and take them down a peg. It would have been nice to see more of the FBI investigations side of the story, as they built up their case against Belfort and his company. However to focus on both would have detracted from the hedonistic aesthetic of the film. Maybe in a few years we’ll see the other side, where this will be shown in greater detail, or maybe it just wasn’t that interesting from a cinematic standpoint. Who knows?
Scorsese’s directing is on top form, as always. And the cinematography is a visual delight, especially when using discontinuity to differentiate between sober and stoned. The music is indicative of the decades it covers, and helps to date the story as it trundles along. The only problem with this technique is, unless you are up to date with the musical styles and bands of the various eras being shown (late 80’s, 90’s and 00’s) you may get a bit confused to how much time has passed. Especially as the characters don’t really appear to age throughout the film, with the exception of Belfort’s children.
The characters themselves are larger than life. Leonardo Di Caprio, Jonah Hill and Matthew McConaughey all play Alpha Dog styled characters with such aplomb that you wouldn’t think twice about punching them in the face just to try and take them down a peg. It would have been nice to see more of the FBI investigations side of the story, as they built up their case against Belfort and his company. However to focus on both would have detracted from the hedonistic aesthetic of the film. Maybe in a few years we’ll see the other side, where this will be shown in greater detail, or maybe it just wasn’t that interesting from a cinematic standpoint. Who knows?
There is a moment in the film where Belfort breaks the fourth wall and starts explaining to the audience the ins and outs of certain financial schemes and money laundering only to drop it half-way through. In this day and age it seems relatively unlikely that the audience is unaware of the basics of what he’s talking about. But it really sums up his character, someone who’ll treat you like an idiot, only to turn around and then act like he knows you know. It’s all just one con after another to help you; like the shyster before you, you find yourself on the losing end. It really is fascinating.
The film is an interesting look into Belfort’s life, and is certainly worth the time investment. That being said if they could find a way to cut half an hour out somewhere, that would certainly improve it. The only problem would be finding somewhere to make the cuts as all the scenes feel integral to the story. The most likely thing to put you off going are the characters themselves. Slimy, arrogant people who are able to live an incredibly wealthy lifestyle by profiting off others. Though one would argue that the actors’ ability to portray these characters so well is reason to go see it in and of itself, you’ll find yourself laughing with them at some of their antics, and then realise that you should probably visit a priest to confess your sins. Just to be on the safe side.
The film is an interesting look into Belfort’s life, and is certainly worth the time investment. That being said if they could find a way to cut half an hour out somewhere, that would certainly improve it. The only problem would be finding somewhere to make the cuts as all the scenes feel integral to the story. The most likely thing to put you off going are the characters themselves. Slimy, arrogant people who are able to live an incredibly wealthy lifestyle by profiting off others. Though one would argue that the actors’ ability to portray these characters so well is reason to go see it in and of itself, you’ll find yourself laughing with them at some of their antics, and then realise that you should probably visit a priest to confess your sins. Just to be on the safe side.
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