Why I Saw It: Scorsese. Need I say more?
Cast: Leonardo DiCaprio is on for three hours. I don't mean on the screen. I mean, he does not let up. It's one of his best performances in a string of great ones with Scorsese. Jonah Hill just keeps getting better. As much as I like him, I was ready to call Moneyball a fluke, he's got some range. The real surprise here is Margot Robbie. I saw her in About Time as that insanely attractive woman. At first, I assumed it would be the same but she stepped up and went toe to toe with DiCaprio the whole way through. And, I was shocked to realize that she is actually Australian. Great accent work. Everyone else has limited roles. Matthew McConaughey has one killer scene early on. Jean Dujardin gets to smile and be foreign. Rob Reiner reminded me how fucking funny he can be. Kyle Chandler is Coach Taylor with an FBI badge. There's all sorts of other people who will send to IMDB to figure out "where have I seen that guy before?".
Plot: The story is of the rise and spectacular fall or Jordan Belfort who I only sort of remember from infomercials years ago. It was a very new story to me but it is also very clearly is not meant to be taken as all true. Everything is exaggerated and gloriously so. The image it paints of stock brokers is not pretty. This is a deliriously crazy world. The drugs and the misogyny are rampant and it is a full world. Few filmmakers can make 3 hours feel as short as Scorsese. Something is constantly happening and it is always interesting, be it his rise from failed Wall Street broker to becoming the Wolf, his drug fueled year at the top, maneuvering around the SEC and FBI, or his fall from power amidst an attempt to clean up his act.
Elephant in the Room: I've heard it is pretty misogynistic. It totally is. It is a movie filled with hyper alpha-males and the ratio of naked women to clothed ones has to be somewhere around 5:1. It all completely fits with this world. The question you should be asking yourself is if Scorsese is trying to have his cake and eat it too by clearly condemning the depravity but featuring it all the same. It didn't bother me, especially with Margot Robbie playing such a strong role.
To Sum Things Up:
This is a fully enjoyable experience. I'm glad Sorsese detoured into a different kind of movie with the delightful Hugo, but it's nice to see him back to what we are used to. He is an established enough brand that you already know whether or not this is your kind of movie. It isn't as violent as his other movies although it makes up for it with copious amounts of drugs and nudity so it still isn't for the faint. I'd place this in the top tier of 2013 movies, but what else is new.
Verdict (?): Weakly Recommend
No comments:
Post a Comment