The Wolf Of Wall Street(2013) Film + Blu-ray Review

Rating: 4 Stars out of 4, Thumbs Up.

Rated R For Sequences Of Strong Sexual Content, Graphic Nudity, Drug Use And Language Throughout, And For Some Violence.

632 uses of the F-word; yes, that number is real.

2hrs 59min/179min.

 

Jordan Belfort: "On a daily basis I consume enough drugs to sedate Manhattan, Long Island and Queens for a month. I take Quaaludes 10-15 times a day for my "back pain", Adderall to stay focused, Xanax to take the edge off, Pot to mellow me out, Cocaine to wake me back up again and Morphine, well... Because it's awesome!"

 

That quote says it all. Quaaludes, Lemons, Pot, Coke, Adderall, Xanax and Morphine to make it through the trials and tribulations of Wall Street. Meet Jordan Belfort(Leonardo DiCaprio), the wealthiest man on Wall Street. By age 26, he had made $49,000,000 which really pissed him off because that was 3 shy of a Million a week. Jordan is an Ego-centric Billionare. By age 36, he was in prison, serving a sentenced 36 months for securities fraud and money laundering, He was on top of the world, until it all came crashing down. You haven't lived until you've seen the things this man has done. It's quite extraordinary.

Jordan Belfort is an ambitious go-getter. At age 22, he traveled to Wall Street with his wife Theresa(Cristin Millioti). He meets his boss Mark Hanna(Matthew McConaughey). Everything is going well. Until, the infamous Black Monday. The day the Stock Market crashed. Now, Jordan has to look through ads to get a new job. Lo and behold, he finds a new job at a small investment firm and turns it around. He soon meets Donnie Azoff(Jonah Hill) who quits his job to come work for Jordan. Within the next year, he turns his parking garage into a large investment/stock market center. By day, he makes thousands, by night, he spends it all on anything you can think of; Drugs, hookers, Sex, anything. Overtime, he turns into a sex and drug-crazed millionare. Jordan is a maniac, and a powerful one at that. But soon, he ends losing some friends and his first wife along the way, remarrying to a girl named Naomi(Margot Robbie). He's crazy, but smart. The story of Jordan Belfort(who, he himself, makes a cameo near the end of the film) is really quite interesting. This man became one of the wealthiest men in America. He had it all, the money, the women, the drugs. God so many drugs, the 'ludes, the lemons, everything. I'm surprised this man, at age 51, is still standing today. This man put so much in his body that he should have died of heart failure. Today, he's been sober since 1998, and now does seminars at $30,000 a piece.

The acting is tremendous, all across the board. DiCaprio gives his best performance, ever, I think. I see him as Belfort. I see him as this drug addict. As a matter of fact, DiCaprio has 3 different emotions throughout the film while he is under the influence of drugs. The first is where he's happy, and this usually happens when he's on Quaaludes. The second is where he's pissed at anyone and anything, this is usually during his cocaine usage. The third is when he takes the expired Lemons, which take 90 minutes to kick in. This renders him almost  incapable of moving or speaking normally, which leads to a funny scene where he opens his car door and tries to drive home. Jonah Hill is wonderful as Donnie Azoff, real name Danny Porush. Jonah Hill gives both a great comedic and dramatic performance. Donnie is man not afraid to turn against other people in the company, except for Jordan. He is forever faithful to Jordan. Margot Robbie is seductive and sultry as Naomi. There is a really funny scene where Jordan first has relations with her. He's so excited that he engages in coitus with her... for 11 seconds. Kyle Chandler is excellent as FBI agent Patrick Denham, the man assigned to keep an eye on Jordan and his employees and company. He doesn't like Jordan and will do anything to bring him down. Finally, Matthew McConaughey and Rob Reiner turn in wonderful and very funny supporting performances as Mark Hanna and Jordan's father Max, respectively.

As you know, I count all of the F-bombs dropped in a film. The Wolf Of Wall Street has a record 632 uses in 179 minutes. 632! That is quite astonishing. However, there are two other films I have seen that go higher than that! 2008's abysmal Gutterballs with 744 uses and a documentary, Literally titled F**k(That's how it's spelled on posters) with a record 849 uses. 849! The movie is overflowing with drugs and sex. Jordan was certainly a naughty man. At this point, I give caution. If you are sensitive, please do not see this film. It is so off the wall that it reaches unspeakable heights. And that's what I like about it. It takes chances. The colors really pop on screen. The bright blues, yellows, reds and oranges all pop and excel wonderfully on the screen, especially on Blu-ray. The cinematography and locations of the film also excel. Jordan has a nice, sleek looking house to die for. It's also interesting to see how Jordan and his friends turn a dank looking parking garage into a sleek Wall Street office. The choice of music is very neclectic. The film takes place in the late 80's to early 90's. Throughout the film, you hear a great mix of rock and rap songs from the time period, so the filmmakers know what they're doing. All of the clothing and the design of everything is exactly down to a T. Jordan also has a boat that he owns in the film. On this boat, I noticed a few small things such as, later on in the film, Jonah Hill has a conversation with someone on a cell phone. If you take a closer look, the phone is a little bulky flip phone. Another scene in a film where Jordan is one the phone with his lawyer(before he has a bad reaction to the Lemons) and his phone is a bit bulky too. Honestly, I'd rather take that than what we have today.

Jordan does all kind of crazy things in the office. When his sales go through the roof one week, he has a parade come through, followed by a few strippers. There's a chimp that comes through, Donnie eats a goldfish. Weirdest, an yet funniest, of all, Jordan and his company engage in tossing little people on a Velcro target. The one who gets closer to the bullseye wins a lot of money. But they don't to offend anybody, so they go through a safety meeting in order to keep everyone safe, but also have fun. The Wolf Of Wall Street is one of the best films of 2013. The story of Jordan Belfort is a very interesting one to learn and watch unfold. The acting is incredible, especially by DiCaprio. The art direction and cinematography are all done so well. The time period is so right, it's not even funny. The movie is 179 minutes, but it never feels like it. I've sat through movies that are 70 minutes but feel 3 hours. This flew by really fast. That's because we're following these people around and we want to find out what happens next. The movie is massive entertainment that shouldn't be missed. That is of course you don't like over usage of drugs and frequent scenes of sex. Then stay away.