The Wolf of Wall Street, 2013

Mark Hanna: “Nobody knows if a stock is going to go up, down, sideways or in circles. You know what a Fugazi is?”
Jordan Belfort: “Fugazi, it’s a fake.”
Mark Hanna: “Fugazi, Fugazi. It’s a wazy. It’s a woozie. It’s fairy dust.”

I had heard so many conflicting reviews of this movie that by the time I actually watched it last night, I had no expectations of what this film was going to be, which is really how I like to go into films.  The Wolf of Wall Street is like Wall Street, Mad Men and The Hangover combined and then on steroids (or crack to be more appropriate). It is a how-to manual on getting caught up in all the excesses of stock broking in the 80s and 90s – the money, the women, and the drugs.

It clearly shows that power and money are true corruptors – Belfort started out starry eyed and wanting to make money for both broker and client. How rapidly things changed when he saw an opportunity to make some big bucks.

If it wasn’t so obscene and disrespectful towards the clients, women and human beings in general, I’d recommend parts of WOWS for sales training in all kinds of industries, not just the financial sector – which is what Belfort ended up doing for a living after his ’empire’ collapsed. Belfort is clearly a born salesperson – he understands the basic principle of getting the customer to see value in what you’re trying to sell, and he does it whilst oozing charisma.

Some people have said that WOWS glorifies the behavior of brokers during these decades, but I don’t agree.  This movie clearly illustrates to me the debauched behavior, the consequences that some (not all – we have to have realism folks) faced, and why the GFC happened.  Martin Scorsese achieves this with a sense of humor – without the comic aspect you’d just want to cry at what awful human beings these characters are. I’m still not sure how they all functioned given just how many drugs were in their systems – but I guess if you’re taking uppers and downers it levels you out in a way – surely their cognitive function was compromised.

There are definitely some stand out performances in WOWS – Leonardo Dicaprio hits the mark yet again as Jordan Belfort.  He is charismatic, engaging and headstrong, making it easier to understand how he had so many people eating out of his hands. Jonah Hill is also surprising in this largely non-comic role as Belfort’s second in command, Donnie Azoff.  Margot Robbie is brilliant – her command of the Brooklyn accent is an achievement in itself.  She is a stunning, just plain hot young woman, but she is much more than a pretty face, playing Naomi Lapaglia with strength and confidence, absolutely shining in a role that can’t have been easy surrounded by such powerhouse actors.

Even the smaller, almost cameo roles are played brilliantly. Matthew McConaughey plays the off the wall inspiration for Belfort’s career, Mark Hanna. McConaughey is getting better and better, he is so much more than the pretty romantic lead that he was in his early career. Joanna Lumley plays Naomi’s Aunt Emma and one of Belfort’s partners in money-laundering crime. And star of The Artist, Jean Dujardin plays Belfort’s Swiss Banker with his unique brand of charm and charisma.

Overall, if you enjoy films/shows like Wall Street, Mad Men and The Hangover that fully display the obscene, debauched dark side of humanity but treat it with a bit of humor, you should enjoy this film. If you like your movies to leave you feeling good and seeing the bright side to humanity – I don’t think this film is for you.