The Wolf of Wall Street

 

The Wolf of Wall Street 2013

• Director: Martin Scorsese
• Seen by this director: Hugo, Shutter Island, The Aviator, Gangs of New York, Bringing Out the Dead, The Last Temptation of Christ, New York New York, Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore
• Based on the book by Jordan Belfort
• Cast: Leonardo Di Caprio, Jonah Hill, Margot Robbie, Matthew McConaughey, Kyle Chandler, Rob Reiner, Joanna Lumley
• Personal “oh yeah him/her” reaction, i.e. have seen this actor in:
• Leonardo DiCaprio – Once upon a Time in Hollywood, The Great Gatsby, Django Unchained, Inception, Shutter Island, Blood Diamond, The Aviator, Catch Me If You Can, Gangs of New York, Beach, Titanic, Marvin’s Room, Romeo & Juliet, What’s Eating Gilbert Grape, This Boy’s Life
• Jonah Hill – Hail Caesar, Django Unchained, The Invention of Lying
• Margot Robbie – Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, I Tonya, Suicide Squad, About Time
• Matthew McConaughey – The Gentlemen, The Dark Tower, Interstellar, Dallas Buyers Club, The Lincoln Lawyer, EDtv, Amistad
• Kyle Chandler – First Man, Manchester by the Sea, Zero Dark Three, The Day the Earth Stood Still, King Kong
• Rob Reiner – EDtv, First Wives’ Club, Sleepless in Seattle, Misery, Postcards from the Edge, Spinal Tap, All in the Family
• Joanna Lumley – Absolutely Fabulous, Ella Enchanted, Cold Comfort Farm, Shirley Valentine, In Her Majesty’s Secret Service
• Why? Deal with my FB friend JA: if I watch this, though I hate rich creep films, he’ll watch Hair, though he hates musicals. He’s kept his side of the bargain and reports that it wasn’t bad for a musical and the ending was strong.
• Seen: 14 May 2021      

       JA warned me that his girlfriend thought the first five minutes were ‘irritating and strange’.

       She’s so right. Add off-putting.

       Jordan Belfort (DiCaprio) is a trillionaire, a sexist pig, a drug addict, an alcoholic and a thoroughly despicable person.

       That’s the point, I assume.

       OK, I already hate Wall Street and capitalism, so I don’t need this film for that. So let’s just see what I think of the film as a film.

       The question is: is it really like this? If so, it’s even worse than I thought but sadly the film hasn’t started the necessary revolution to destroy this lousy system. If it isn’t like this, then why make such an unpleasant film?

       McConaughey is good as Jordan’s totally sleazy mentor, and the music is good. So not a total flop.

       But, sorry, JA, we very often agree on films, just not this time. Thanks, anyway! It was a fun challenge! 

2* of 5 (Hal was impressed with the filmmaking itself so he says 3* of 5.)