It was Robert De Niro who first recommended Leornardo DiCaprio to Martin Scorsese. Like one generation handing over to the other, De Niro told Scorsese that he had worked with a kid on This Boy’s Life and that he was “really good.” Apparently Marty was taken aback because “he’s always really kind about other people, but he rarely says I should work with somebody.” Little did they know, the conversation would enter film history.
DiCaprio’s first opportunity to work with arguably one of the world’s greatest living directors came in the form of Gangs of New York which proved Leo’s worth, not to the wider world but certainly to Marty. Acting opposite Daniel Day-Lewis was never going to be easy, acting exceptionally well across from possibly the greatest actor alive is an achievement. The Scorsese-DiCaprio marriage began.
By all accounts, the relationship with Scorsese was certainly working. Like De Niro, DiCaprio fitted seamlessly into the roles he was cast in, playing a snitch in the Departed, a mentally unstable visionary in another, Scorsese challenged DiCaprio in ways he really hadn’t been challenged before. Let’s not forget Titanic. By the time Wolf of Wall Street rolled around, there really wasn’t any question who was going to be Scorsese’s Jordan Belfort.
Scorsese was certainly in familiar territory with Wolf of Wall Street. Based on a true story, Wolf follows the life of Belfort, a stockbroker who began his career at one of the biggest firms on Wall Street before moving on to set up his own business. However, as Belfort in the film questions in the film, was all of this legal and the deafening reply is, most certainly not.
Belfort spends his first day on Wall Street in the company of Mark Hanna (Matthew McConaughey), a character who we are led to believe teaches Belfort everything he knows, namely don’t make money for the clients, make money for yourself. Jordan is already making more money than he can spend by 26, living in a luxurious mansion, married to the woman of pretty much everyone’s dreams but it is all most certainly not legal. When his greed becomes all-consuming, he attracts the wrong kind of interest and Belfort suddenly finds himself under investigation from the FBI.
In terms of where Wolf fits in on the Scorsese map, the film almost serves as a companion piece to Goodfellas. Although we are treated to two separate entities, the Mafia and Wall Street, the similarities are almost too many to list. There is no doubt that Belfort is as much a gangster as Henry Hill, to the detriment of his own life and to his family. Their characters both find themselves in similar positions, under investigation with serious drug issues and trying to cover up so much crime, neither of them know where to start. However, Jordan differs in one big way, he cares about nothing but money.
The performances are simply outstanding, DiCaprio is simply at his best. Let’s be entirely fair here, Belfort is almost presented as if he has sold his soul to the devil and that devil is Wall Street. The rest of his life merely revolves around his ability to make more money, to take more drugs and to sleep with more women and DiCaprio certainly commits. Robbie, in her first big Hollywood film, certainly delivers and that few minutes with McConaughey on the screen is just simply magical.
Following its release, DiCaprio was forced to defend the film, claiming that it doesn’t revere Jordan Belfort and it most certainly does not. Described by Scorsese as a “cautionary tale about greed”, Wolf shows that excess, money and power certainly doesn’t lead to a life of happiness and peace. Although Belfort did serve as a consultant on the film, the need to defend something which is making an obvious point is simply ridiculous.
There are a few issues however with Wolf, first off the running time. The film, which stretches to three hours, would have been much better served by a running time of a little over two hours, perhaps making it a little punchier. On top of that, the editing isn’t exactly as snappy as it used to be, there certainly could have been a few scenes taken out here and there.
But that is neither here nor there, you need to see this, almost for the DiCaprio brilliance alone.
