Starring: Leonardo DiCaprio, Jonah Hill, Margot Robbie, Matthew McConaughey, Kyle Chandler & Rob Reiner
Directed by: Martin Scorsese

Distributed by: Universal Pictures
Release Date: December 2013
Running Time: 179 mins

Synopsis: Based on the true story of Jordan Belfort, from his rise to a wealthy stock-broker living the high life to his fall involving crime, corruption and the federal government.

With a career that has spanned over five decades, Martin Scorsese has cemented himself as a legendary filmmaker and has shaped and influenced cinema with iconic movies such as Taxi Driver, Raging Bull and Goodfellas. Known predominately for films that focus on crime, machismo and nihilism, Scorsese never shies away from the brutal realities of the masculine-charged environments he explores, making full use of profanity and ultra-violence to showcase these alpha-male characters. The Wolf of Wall Street shares a strong commonality with Scorsese’s previous work – most notably, Goodfellas – but swaps out gangsters for salesmen and mafia protection rackets for investment fraud schemes. Where Goodfellas peered into the dark and grimy underworld of organised crime, The Wolf of Wall Street instead shines a light on the high-rise open-plan offices of the stock exchange and the greed and avarice that lies within. Based on Jordan Belfort’s 2007 memoir of the same name, The Wolf of Wall Street is a semi-biographical account of Belfort’s career as a Wall Street stockbroker and how corruption, fraud and excessive drug use contributed to his downfall.

Leonardo DiCaprio delivers a strong charismatic lead performance as Belfort, straddling the line between salesman and saviour as he creates an almost cult-like environment within his brokerage, Stratton Oakmont. He provides the narration to the film, establishing a close connection between the viewer and himself in the same way that Ray Liotta’s Henry Hill let us behind the curtain in Goodfellas. The two are extremely similar characters – both are highly dependent drug-users, whilst also chasing the addiction of risk that their respective criminal lifestyles bring. There is a symmetry to how their lives unravel too – with the erosion of their domestic bliss, and both forced to “rat” on their former friends before finishing up with a mundane life absent of the thrill and danger they were once chasing – the “normal” existence they fought so hard against throughout the film. DiCaprio manages to be likeable and magnetic without veering into the “Tom Cruise uncanny valley”, showcasing a goofy side when the moment calls for it.

The film is also notable for the mainstream debut of Margot Robbie – fresh from Neighbours and straight into a Scorsese picture! Within the film itself, she catches Belfort’s attention because of her good looks, and I suspect she was later catapulted into Hollywood stardom for the same reason – but her performance is equally as impressive as her beauty. In a film filled with male energy, Robbie is the main source of femininity – equal parts sexy and feisty – she provides Belfort with a worthy sparring partner in his domestic home life. Scorsese tries his hardest to prevent her from being the stereotypical “nagging wife” and the scene where she takes charge and lets Belfort have sex with her “one last time” shows the character’s strength. She uses her sexuality as a tool – withholding or releasing affection to get what she wants – but Scorsese doesn’t really spend enough time on her as a character.

The other noteworthy supporting performance comes from Jonah Hill – who, at this stage in his career, was known mainly as a comedy actor, thanks to his roles in Superbad, 21 Jump Street and Get Him to the Greek. As Donnie Azoff, the co-founder of Stratton Oakmont, Hill still provides comedic support with his antagonistic demeanor, adopting a Joe Pesci role at times. Watching him butt heads with Jon Bernthal’s Brad during a money drop-off is one of the highlights of the film, as is the quaalude-fuelled fight with Belfort that almost ends with him choking to death on a piece of ham.

Other supporting cast-members that really impressed me were Jean Dujardin from The Artist as a sleazy Swiss banker, Kyle Chandler’s doggedly determined FBI Agent and Rob Reiner as Jordan’s foul-mouthed father, Max Belfort. However, Joanna Lumley is awkwardly cast as Naomi’s aunt Emma, and there is a terrible scene – set against an obvious green screen – where Jordan attempts to persuade her to act as a “rathole” for his ill-gotten gains, resulting in a cringeworthy kiss between the pair. I guess the intention was to make the audience feel second-hand embarrassment for the depths Jordan is willing to sink down to, but I felt more embarrassed by Lumley’s performance, which was as wooden as the park bench the pair were sitting on.

At just under three hours, The Wolf of Wall Street is an undeniably long film — but Scorsese uses that additional time to let his scenes breathe, rather than to cram in plot. The film unfolds as a series of sharply observed vignettes, each one capturing a key moment in Jordan Belfort’s rise and fall, and Scorsese moves between them with the same fast‑forward, chapter‑jumping rhythm he once used in Goodfellas. Sometimes this indulgence pays off, like the brilliantly extended sequence of a drug‑paralyzed Belfort crawling home to stop Donnie from incriminating them on a bugged phone; the scene’s length becomes the joke. But elsewhere, the film’s momentum slackens, and you can feel the runtime stretching beyond what the story actually demands. It’s epic in scale but surprisingly light in narrative substance, and trimming even twenty minutes could have made the film hit harder without losing any of its chaotic energy.

The Wolf of Wall Street distils Scorsese’s best instincts — electric performances, propulsive energy, and a fascination with morally bankrupt men — into a glossy, cocaine‑fizzing rise‑and‑fall story powered by Leonardo DiCaprio and Margot Robbie’s on-screen chemistry. But unlike his greatest crime sagas, the film’s excess ends up mirroring its subject: loud, funny, and entertaining, yet ultimately hollow. Scorsese swaps menace for mayhem, celebrating Belfort’s hedonism with such giddy abandon that the consequences barely register for the audience, leaving the whole thing feeling as inflated as the penny stocks Stratton Oakmont peddled. It’s absolutely worth experiencing the film once for its performances and the sheer boldness of the filmmaking — but when placed next to the razor‑sharp precision of Goodfellas, it feels more like a high‑energy cautionary tale than a true masterpiece.

The Wolf of Wall Street is available on DVD & Blu-Ray from Amazon UK and can also be streamed on Amazon Prime Video.