IMDB Score 8.7
Rotten Tomato Score – 75%

Directed By Martin Scorsese
Starring – Leonardo DiCaprio, Jonah Hill, Margot Robbie, Kyle Chandler, Rob Reiner, Jean Dujardin, P.J. Byrne, Jon Bernthal, and Matthew McConaughey

Based on the true story of Jordan Belfort, from his rise to a wealthy stockbroker living the high life to his fall involving crime, corruption and the federal government.

I feel like I should be on Quaaludes right now as I type this up. I feel like everybody should be on Quaaludes while they read this. How about just…Quaaludes.

Writing this a couple days after Leo won the Golden Globe for Best Actor, I’m starting to realize that this may be the year that Leo finally wins and Oscar, and he would totally deserve it. Leo stars in this absolutely insane film about rich people in the stock market and what kind of luxuries go with that. To my surprise, the theater in which I saw this film was still packed to the brim which was great but also horrible because I always seem to be a magnet for people like to talk during the entire duration of a film. The fact that this was three hours long only impressed me more on how awful people are. Even with those distractions, I still enjoyed the film.

Scorcese has always been a interesting director to me. Sometimes he’ll have a film that is a well balanced machine of great acting, wonderful camera work, and interesting story. Goodfellas, The Departed, Hugo, and Shutter Island come to mind. Then there is the Scorsese that seems to miss on the subject matter but still gets great performances out of his actors. Casino and Gangs of New York featured powerhouse performances but just fell a little short story wise although were entirely entertaining. The Wolf of Wall Street will be joining those two films. It’s a film filled with great acting and fun but really didn’t have any substance to carry in into my top film of the year.

Leo was amazing. I hope he does more comedies because the man is hilarious. The timing he developed with Jonah Hill was amazing to watch and like I said in the beginning I expect him to take home his first Oscar. In a year FILLED to the brim with amazing male performances, I hope Leo takes home the statue. He earned it. Like everything he does, he went full on crazy in this film. The scenes with him on drugs, which is like every scene, were some of the funniest scenes of the year and it was because of the brilliant way Leo controls his face. He’s always been a fantastic actor but this just rounds out his resume as being a jack of all trades. Jonah Hill cemented the fact that he can act with his supporting role as Donny, Belfort’s Vice President.

The film was just a non stop freight train of debauchery that had many people laughing, gasping, and shutting their eyes while also being memorized with the circus unfolding at every angle. The only thing I could say was that the story just didn’t hold up. I honestly didn’t find myself engaged in fact that these people could possibly do serious jail time. I didn’t care if they were caught or died or anything. It was like dumping sprinkles, sugar, chocolates, and ice cream on a steak. The fun and craziness of the film completely overpowered any substance underneath. That being said, it’s one of the few films that adheres to that structure that I still found very good and worth the price of admission, if you can handle it that is.

Shit, the ludes are kicking in.

3.5/5