An old adage goes that if on a certain day, everyone in the world received a million dollars, by the end of the day, ten percent of the people would have all the money.
"The Wolf of Wall Street" pretty much shows how that could happen.
Based on Jordan Belfort's book, this is a very entertaining movie - although probably not for those who lost their money. The film follows Belfort (Leonardo DiCaprio) from newbie stockbroker to head of Stratton Oakmont, the largest 'Over The Counter' stockbroking firm in the US.
Along the way he has two marriages, acquires luxury homes and automobiles, a sea going yacht with a helicopter, a taste for wild office sex parties, which would put a Roman orgy to shame, and a huge drug habit. But even after the FBI steps in and everything unravels, the guy still can't help making money.
The movie is loud, lewd and often hilarious; it doesn't have a boring minute.
Matthew McConaughey gives a brief but telling performance as Mark Hanna who initiates Belfort into the darker side of Wall Street. He also introduces the tribal chest-thumping chant that becomes a motif throughout the film.
Aussie Margot Robbie is hard to take your eyes off as Belfort's second wife, Naomi. She was also an amusing guest on talk shows when the movie was released where she told how she pulled off the Brooklyn accent, and kept the news about her nude scenes from her family for as long as possible.
But this is Leonardo's movie. Although in his portrayal of Belfort, where there appears to be almost no moral or ethical boundaries, he keeps our sympathy because he can actually laugh at himself; it's a high energy performance, but with a light touch.
In a way, the performance has echoes of the one he gave for Spielberg in "Catch Me If You Can". Despite the fact that both Jordan Belfort and Frank Abagnale Jr. break the law, their sheer audacity dazzles us. Also, both Spielberg and Scorsese have great comedic timing; they know how to deliver a punch line. If you were looking for a reason why this film works better than Scorsese's "The Aviator", which also starred Leonardo, it could simply be the latter film's lack of humour - Hughes was eccentric but he wasn't funny.
Enjoyable as "The Wolf of Wall Street" is, at the end you can't help wondering if even half of it is true, how it is that with people like Belfort and his friends helping themselves to such over-sized slices of the pie, that the world's economy hasn't descended to the level it did in 1929. In a way, it's actually a very scary movie.
