The Wolf of Wall Street

Who doesn’t love Leonardo DiCaprio? Who doesn’t love money? If you’re not a fan of either, then you’re probably a nomad, who grew up in a cave. That was essentially my thinking when I saw the trailer for this film: it’s Leo, and it’s about a guy who makes lots of cash. And (this isn’t really a spoiler, at least not per se), I mean lots of cash. Within the opening few scenes, you realise just how much cash he’s made. But I’ll get to that in a minute.

On the irony of the fact that the film revolves around money, this was one that I actually managed to see for free. I was meant to see it with two people from university. That didn’t actually happen: one of them bailed. As it turns out, though, when I went to buy my ticket, I had enough points on my ODEON card to get in free of charge. It was quite a wonderful feeling, being able to do something I loved and not have to pay a single penny. I did appreciate (as you should, too) the irony of the whole situation, though.

The film really appealed to me, and not just because it looked like Leo might actually be awarded an Oscar. If you’ve still yet to see it (highly unlikely, given the fact it came out over three years ago, at the end of 2013, no less), then I really recommend you do so. Even if you’re not a great fan of expletives, I’d still suggest that you give it a watch. It is heavily laden with swearwords, to the point where Screen Junkies actually give you the average of how many times they say the F word a minute (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BzpIB5TJ7LI). However, you should really overlook that.

The plot of the film is based around a Wall Street Broker called Jordan Belfort, who wants to make big bucks, fast. The way in which he ends up going about it isn’t exactly legal. He rips people off, at the very expense of said people’s livelihoods, then reaps the ill-gotten rewards. As things start to unravel, the film becomes a kind of exposé on how Belfort is determined to win, no matter the cost. His sheer degeneracy (frequent cursing, fraud, prostitutes, drugs, affairs) seems to have no end as he spirals ever deeper into the dark lure that millions and millions affords. Yet don’t be discouraged: throughout it all, the film is immensely funny, with an elongated set-piece centred around DiCaprio and Jonah Hill’s character (Donnie Azoff) taking out-of-date drugs that ends up going hilariously wrong. The runtime is a little under three hours, but it needs to be, in order to pack in everything that happens. It really is a roller coaster ride from start to finish, one that is simultaneously enjoyable yet ludicrous.