The Wolf of Wall Street (2013)

The Wolf of Wall Street (2013) — a bold, darkly comic biographical crime drama — follows the true story of Jordan Belfort, a Long Island stockbroker who builds Stratton Oakmont into a wildly successful (and criminal) brokerage in the 1990s. Starting as an eager rookie, Belfort (played by Leonardo DiCaprio) rises to obscene wealth through aggressive salesmanship and pump-and-dump schemes, recruits a rowdy crew including his partner Donnie Azoff, and descends into an escalating spiral of drugs, sex, parties and corruption before the FBI closes in. Watching the film you’ll experience a relentless, high-energy ride: rapid-fire dialogue and voiceover narration, chaotic trading floor sequences, excess portrayed with gleeful detail, and a mixture of raucous humor and moral rot. Director Martin Scorsese’s kinetic pacing and sharp editing keep the nearly three-hour picture propulsive, while standout performances (notably DiCaprio and Jonah Hill) make the characters magnetic even as they behave recklessly. Tonally the movie is a satire and a character study at once — it both revels in and indicts the greed and hedonism of its protagonists. Expect very explicit depictions of drug use, sex, profanity and debauchery; the film is deliberately provocative and often uncomfortable, designed to make you both laugh and recoil. Ultimately it’s a cautionary spectacle: entertaining, outrageous, and morally complicated, leaving viewers to judge whether they’re witnessing bravado or moral bankruptcy.

Actors: Leonardo DiCaprio, Jonah Hill, Margot Robbie

Director: Martin Scorsese

Runtime: 180 min

Genres: Biography, Comedy, Crime

7.6 /10 75 /100 8.2 /10 7.8 /10