The Wolf of Wall Street

                                                                       

         If there was such a thing as “movie royalty” the list of the people on it would be very short. It would have names like Spielberg, Lucas, Coppola, and of course Scorsese. Two of those men would be considered just on their past contributions, almost like a life time achievement award. Meanwhile the other two are still making movies as good and as important as the day they started. With so many greats how do you choose who to crown the King? Well if I had a vote, which wouldn't even matter because this is a monarchy we are talking about, I would choose Martin Scorsese. Not only is he a fantastic film maker, but film is his greatest love, and it shows in everything he touches. It is easy to look forward to a Scorsese film, because you know that you are getting a great piece of art, and you always find yourself waiting to see what future masterpiece he is working on next.

    Well his next piece of work may not be a masterpiece, but it is pretty damn good. “The Wolf of Wall Street” is a film about, wait for it, Wall Street. And the ‘Wolf’ sadly is just a man named Jordan Belfort (Leonardo DiCaprio) and we see his rise from poverty to being rich beyond words. Jordan, though didn't get his money by hard work, he got it from the money earned from other’s hard work. So with the help of his best friend Donny (Jonah Hill) he works the system, and gets filthy rich. Based on the actual life of Jordan Belfort, we get a look into the life a Wall Street Broker, before everything came crashing down. It’s a story about money, drugs, sex, and a whole lot more money.

    When it comes to Scorsese and his films, he seems to have a muse. For years that muse was Robert De Niro, who was in everything Scorsese made until he found his new muse in DiCaprio, and the one thing you can say, he has an eye for talent. The relationship is mutual though, because both De Niro and DiCaprio have both gotten plenty of attention for the work they do. With Scorsese’s and DiCaprio’s latest effort, there is a pretty good chance that will continue. “The Wolf of Wall Street” is a great movie, for about two and a half hours of its run time, but seems to fall off for the last thirty minutes.  So if you are good at math that adds up to twenty-five percent of the film that you don’t feel. Working from a script from Terence Winter, Scorsese keeps the pace moving pretty fast and sharp, only to stumble towards the end.  Thankfully the performances do not, both DiCaprio and Hill are magnificent and both will get attention come award season.

Film making is an art, and like any field it has its masters, and well Scorsese is a master of his craft. Just like Picasso didn't always paint masterpieces, Scorsese can’t always make perfect films. “The Wolf of Wall Street” is not a masterpiece, but it is not that far off, and a movie you should definitely put it on your ‘must see’ this holiday season.

Brian Taylor