Genre Grandeur – Wolf of Wall Street (2013)

Here’s a review by Natasha of Life of This City Girl for this month’s Genre Grandeur – Biopics of last year’s Scorsese hit The Wolf of Wall Street (2013)

Next month’s Genre chosen by Kieron of What About the Twinkie? is 80’s action flicks, so send me the review of your favorite film in that genre by 25th Nov to action80@movierob.net and I’ll post it.

 

Let’s hear what Natasha has to say about The Wolf of Wall Street

 

 

 

Plot: 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. (via IMDb)

 

Don’t you guys just think Rob chooses such cool topics for his Genre Grandeur?! I really love participating as it gives me the chance to have a new look at movies I really love. When I heard that it was Biopic time, I immediately thought of this movie. Wolf of Wall Street not only stands as my favourite biopic, it can also be categorized as one of my favourite movies of the last few years.

 

Zoë and I have been moaning quite frequently about the quality of movies these days and that series are so much better because it has more depth and character development. Then there are a few movies, exactly like this one, that still has the ability to be worth its hype and entertain you endlessly with its characters, their nasty antics and have you be slightly bleak when the show is over.

 

Jordan Belfort’s behaviour is so reprehensible I continue to be shocked that this was an actual man’s actual activities. He is rotten from the very start, and it escalates as the movie progresses. Leo is so perfect for playing him and shows how that greed consumed Belfort and took control of a weak personality. I appreciate that this movie doesn’t try to make Belfort the good guy – yes, his antics were glorified and glamorised on screen, but you soon realise that he has NO redeeming qualities in him, even for a second.

 

The acting was phenomenal and each character brought something unique to the table. Who thought Jonah Hill had it in him to be in an authentic movie with such a convincing portrayal? Look, the character was ridiculous and everything, but for once I didn’t want to throw a little tantrum because he was part of the cast. Maybe we will never find out who Leo pissed off so much on the Oscar committee that he never got an Oscar for this (or Inception, or, or, or, you know), but we will feel for him, because he deserves at least one in his lifetime. To me this may very well be his best role yet, but since he can become any character at any time I won’t even mind if someone disagrees with me!

 

The movie managed to hide the fact that it is three hours long. I get annoyed usually with these long movies but this one didn’t bother me at all. It was nicely paced and Belfort’s decent into trouble was entertaining enough to keep watching. I do think the scene with the Lamborghini took ages to get done, but apart from that I didn’t once want to turn it off. All in all, a great movie with a great cast!

 

Thanks for hosting me once again Rob!

 

 

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Thanks again to Natasha for this in-depth review of this modern classic!