The Wolf of Wall Street Review

I saw the Wolf of Wall Street on January 10, 2014. I can honestly say besides Catch Me If You Can & Inception, this was Leonardo DiCaprio's finest performance. The movie is based off the life of Jordan Belfort from a wealthy stockbroker living the high life into a man involved with crime and corruption. Martin Scorsese is probably my all time favorite director. His stories have always been interesting to watch on screen. DiCaprio is my all time favorite actor. It's always interesting to watch his performances. He puts energy into every one of them. He gets himself into that character's mindset and that is what makes the performance so believable. His charismatic presence on screen made you believe that DiCaprio was Belfort. I liked watching the character starting out who had ambition and the temptation of greed early on inside of him. Once he learns the ropes, his career takes off where he gains wealth through a boiler room atmosphere selling penny stocks at higher prices to earn more commission eventually heading a company called Stratton Oakmont (the movie opens with a promotional video of the company). DiCaprio's monologues about greed, money, and the "good life" were so well done. It reminded me of when Patrick Bateman would have inner monologues to himself in American Psycho. On a sidenote, did you know DiCaprio was the first consideration for that role, but Gloria Steinem told him it would be bad for his image with teenage girls. It also had that Greed is Good atmosphere of Wall Street. However, where Wall Street tends to bore me, this movie just constantly flows with a great conversation or scene throughout. DiCaprio does such a great job of making you love Jordan one minute, but absolutely loathing him the next. With the amount of money he has coming in, he cheats on his wife and engages in drugs. Both women cast as his wives did a tremendous job. I felt his first wife Theresa played by Cristin Millotti was great for Jordan early on encouraging him and telling him not to give up when many people weren't hiring stockbrokers. She was almost like Marisa Tomei in My Cousin Vinny-though not as animated. The other woman in Jordan's life Naomi played very well by Margot Robbie had excellent chemistry with DiCaprio through both good times and bad. Theresa represented the rise of Jordan's wealth, and Naomi represents the fruits of the wealth and eventual decline. I also need to point out that Jonah Hill gave the best performance of his career. He was great as Jordan's best friend Donnie Azoff, who eventually causes problems for Jordan. Working with DiCaprio gave him an opportunity to show how great of an actor he can be. Jordan Belfort is a perfect role for Leonardo DiCaprio. He went all out in every scene and I think its time the Golden Globes and the Oscars award this man for his incredible work in this movie. The incredible characters, dialogue, scenes, and performances by all people involved whether it was Leonardo DiCaprio, Jonah Hill, Kyle Chandler (FBI agent), Margot Robbie, etc. all did an amazing job creating true movie magic. This is one of Martin Scorsese's finest movies which in my opinion is a definite 5/5. I am really hoping DiCaprio wins Best Actor at both the Golden Globes and the Oscars. This is a man that has had consistent performances, especially from 2002 on. Witnessing his work in The Wolf of Wall Street made me realize just how incredible of an actor he truly is.