Wolf of Wallstreet :MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS......who am i shitting? DOES CONTAIN SPOILERS!!!!
This is one hell of an awkward movie to sit through, and "sit through" is the right word cause thats what it felt like I did. the movie is 3 freaking hours long and it could easily have been 90 minutes and it would have been the same film. most conversations only serve to emphasis the point of the film, a point that isnt made with any degree of subtlety "STOCK BROKERS A GREEDY FUCKS WHO LIVE IN THERE OWN LACK OF MORALITY" thats it. these guys don't learn any hard lessons, there chickens dont come home to roost, that start as assholes, they end as bigger assholes. no arcs, no development, nothing. The film is a 3 hour character study of greed and hedonism.
the film is also wholly uncomfertable to watch, when it opened i was holding my girlfriends hand and we were sharing popcorn, ready for the flick. 90 seconds in we wanted to let go of each other, forget the popcorn and shower. right around when Leonardo DeCaprio was packing a hookers ass full of cocaine and snorting it out during the opening monologue. that image is the film in a nutshell. also Leo's preformance in a nutshell. if you only stay in the theater for that one moment, and know he's a stock broker, well you've seen enough to get the point of the movie, and the only point the film seem to make.
Leo's performance was par for the course, as always, but i feel its being over-praised as he is far too 2 dimensional for this to be a great performance. its just good. it has energy and charisma, but no depth. just like this movie, its all flashes and colors, a sports car without an engine. really great to look at all, but dont expect to get across the country with it. Leo spent the whole film being unlikeable, and everyone else in the film tried to out do him in terms of over the top unlikeability, and the remarkable thing was everyone succeded. whoever was on screen, THAT was the least likeable person to date.
In the end, the movie is too long, too shallow, and really, wait to rent it or pirate it from russia, 2 stars.