‘Wolf Of Wall Street’ Dominates Theaters, but Should It?

By Siena Deck


Martin Scorsese‘s “The Wolf of Wall Street stars Leonardo DiCaprio, Jonah Hill, Margrot Robbie, and other A-list actors. Based on the life of Jordan Belfort, Martin Scorsese portrays Jordan’s rocky life in Scorsese’s 7th film with Leonardo DiCaprio.

The movie follows Jordan Belfort, played by DiCaprio. The scene is set in the late 1980’s and travels through Belfort’s troubling life, haunted by his cocaine addiction.

At the beginning of the film, we see Belfort as a young and eager stockbroker, on his first day on Wall Street. However, the “Wall Street life” moves quickly, and soon enough Belfort is laid off amongst other colleagues. He takes this opportunity, along with the corrupt skills he learned at his previous firm, to move home and start his own company.

The pace is quicker with stocks. Belfort deviously manipulates others to make millions and leave others penniless. With other people’s money, Belfort travels on yachts and private jets while rolling his money into cocaine straws. Eventually, his escapades are halted when the FBI learns of his illegal involvement with penny stocks.

This rightly rated R film is not for all ages, but does give one realistic insight into the scandalous life of one corrupt Wall Street agent. Leonardo DiCaprio, who won best actor at the Golden Globes for his maniacal and deviant portrayal of Belfort, shined on screen.

The costumes were sophisticated and helped map the transition from Belfort’s life in a one bedroom apartment to his mansion in Long Island. Scorsese’s directing was fluid and successfully portrayed the materialistic lifestyle of Wall Street brokers, but it is still not the director’s best. It felt like a forced “Goodfellas” sequel without the mafia and careless killings.

The three-hour film felt long and tedious. Its troubling depiction of female characters was misogynistic and at times upsetting. However, critics highly praised the writing, acting, and overall directing.

When seeing it with your parents, expect to be sent out to get more popcorn when things get a bit racy.