Photo credit: Courtesy of Paramount Pictures
In our countdown to the Oscars, we continure with Best Picture. Our previous countdown eliminated “Her” and “Captain Phillips.” The remaining nominees for Best Picture are: “12 Years a Slave” – “American Hustle” – “Dallas Buyers Club” – “Gravity” – “Nebraska”- “Philomena” – “The Wolf of Wall Street”
Now we explore “The Wolf of Wall Street”
“The Wolf of Wall Street is a 2013 American black comedy film directed by Martin Scorsese, based on Jordan Belfort’s memoir of the same name. The screenplay was written by Terence Winter, and the film stars Leonardo DiCaprio as Belfort, a New York stockbroker who runs a firm that engages in securities fraud and corruption on Wall Street in the 1990s.
Out of work and with a poor job market for stockbrokers, Jordan’s wife Teresa (Cristin Milioti) pushes him to take a job with a Long Island boiler room which deals in penny stocks. His aggressive pitching style soon earns him a small fortune. He befriends Donnie Azoff (Jonah Hill), a salesman who lives in the same apartment complex as him, and they decide to open their own firm together. They recruit several of Jordan’s friends, some of them experienced marijuana dealers, and his accountant parents and form Stratton Oakmont. Despite the respectable name, it is essentially a pump and dump scam. An exposé in Forbes dubs Jordan the “Wolf of Wall Street”, and soon hundreds of ambitious young financiers flock to his company.” Wikipedia
While there was some great acting and some memorable scenes at the end, it was way too over the top even though based on a true story. The debauchery and indelicate scenes were grimmy and hard to watch. Considering the recent recessions, it was also insensitive and probably not timed well. Perhaps it would have done better prior to the financial disasters and the bailing out of Wall Street. We much preferred Wall Street with Michael Douglas as the fictional lead, an intellectual approach to the same kind of shenanigans. Sometimes less is more. So, we’re taking it off the list…..three down, six to go.
The Trailer:
