The Wolf of Wall Street (2013)

The Wolf of Wall Street (2013)

The Wolf of Wall Street is a 2013 American biographical black comedy crime film, directed by Martin Scorsese. The screenplay by Terence Winter is adapted from the memoir of the same name by Jordan Belfort and recounts from Belfort's perspective his career as a stockbroker in New York City and how his firm Stratton Oakmont engaged in rampant corruption and fraud on Wall Street that ultimately led to his downfall. Leonardo DiCaprio (who also co-produced the film) stars as Belfort, with Jonah Hill as his business partner and friend Donnie Azoff, Margot Robbie as his second wife Naomi Lapaglia, and Kyle Chandler as Patrick Denham, the FBI agent who tries to bring him down. Matthew McConaughey, Rob Reiner, Jon Favreau, and Jean Dujardin are also featured. The film marks the director's fifth collaboration with DiCaprio, after Gangs of New York (2002), The Aviator (2004), The Departed (2006), and Shutter Island (2010), as well as his second collaboration with Winter after the television series Boardwalk Empire (2010–14).

The Wolf of Wall Street premiered in New York City on December 17, 2013, and was released theatrically on December 25, 2013, in the United States, distributed by Paramount Pictures. The film was the first to have been released entirely through digital distribution. It was a major commercial success, grossing more than $392 million worldwide during its original theatrical run to become Scorsese's highest-grossing movie to date and the 17th-highest-grossing film of 2013. The film was controversial for its morally ambiguous depiction of events, explicit sexual content, profanity, depiction of hard drug use, and the use of animals during production.

The film received mostly positive reviews from critics, with praise for Scorsese's direction and the performances of DiCaprio and Hill, and was nominated for several awards, including five nominations at the 86th Academy Awards ceremony: Best Picture, Best Director for Scorsese, Best Writing (Adapted Screenplay) for Winter, and Best Actor and Best Supporting Actor nominations for DiCaprio and Hill, respectively. The film did not win in any category, although DiCaprio did win Best Actor – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy at the 71st Golden Globe Awards, where the film was also nominated for Best Picture – Musical or Comedy. It was also recognized by numerous other awards ceremonies, as well as guilds and critics' associations.

Storyline

Jordan Belfort is a Long Island penny stockbroker who served 22 months in prison for defrauding investors in a massive 1990s securities scam that involved widespread corruption on Wall Street and in the corporate banking world, including shoe designer Steve Madden.

Plot

In 1987, Jordan Belfort (Leonardo DiCaprio) loses his job as a Wall Street stockbroker for L.F. Rothschild, employed under Mark Hanna (Matthew McConaughey) due to Black Monday. He takes a job at a boiler room brokerage firm on Long Island that specializes in penny stocks. Thanks to his aggressive pitching style and the high commissions, Belfort makes a small fortune.

Jordan befriends his apartment neighbor Donnie Azoff (Jonah Hill), and the two found their own company. They recruit Jordan's accountant parents as well as several of Jordan's friends, whom Jordan trains in the art of the "hard sell". The basic method of the firm is a pump and dump scam. To cloak this, Belfort gives the firm the respectable name of "Stratton Oakmont". After an exposé in Forbes, hundreds of ambitious young financiers flock to his company.

As Jordan becomes immensely successful, he slides into a decadent lifestyle of prostitutes and Quaaludes. He has an affair with a woman named Naomi Lapaglia (Margot Robbie). When his wife Teresa finds out, they divorce and he marries Naomi, soon having a daughter. Meanwhile, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and the FBI begin investigating Stratton Oakmont.

Jordan illegally makes $22 million in three hours upon securing the IPO of Steve Madden. This brings him and his firm to the attention of the FBI, mainly agent Patrick Denham (Kyle Chandler). To hide his illegitimate money, Jordan opens a Swiss bank account with corrupt banker Jean-Jacques Saurel (Jean Dujardin) in the name of Naomi's aunt Emma (Joanna Lumley), who is a British citizen and thus outside the reach of American authorities. He uses the wife and in-laws of his friend Brad Bodnick (Jon Bernthal), who have European passports, to smuggle cash into Switzerland.

Donnie gets into a public fight with Brad, and while Donnie escapes, Brad is arrested. Jordan also learns from his private investigator that the FBI is wiretapping his phones. Fearing for his son, Jordan's father pressures him to leave Stratton Oakmont and lie low while Jordan's lawyer orchestrates a deal to keep him out of prison. Jordan, however, does not want to quit, and talks himself into staying in the middle of his farewell speech.

Jordan, Donnie and their wives are on a yacht trip to Italy when they learn that Aunt Emma has died of a heart attack. Over the objections of his grieving wife and his yacht captain, Jordan decides to sail to Monaco so they can drive to Switzerland without getting their passports stamped at the border and settle the bank account, but a violent storm capsizes their yacht. After their rescue by Italians, the plane sent to take them to Geneva is destroyed when a seagull flies into the engine. Jordan considers this a sign from God and decides to sober up.

Two years later, the FBI arrests Jordan because Saurel, arrested in Florida on an unrelated charge, has told the FBI about Jordan's criminal activities. Since the evidence against him is overwhelming, Jordan agrees to gather evidence on his colleagues in exchange for leniency.

Fed up with Jordan's lifestyle, Naomi tells Jordan she is divorcing him and wants full custody of their children. After their argument turns violent, Jordan relapses on cocaine and attempts to kidnap their daughter Skylar before crashing his car into a fence. Naomi and the Belforts' housekeeper rescue Skylar from the vehicle and leave Jordan, bleeding and defeated, in the car.

The next morning, Jordan wears a wire to work. Jordan slips Donnie a note warning him about the wire. Feeling disappointed and betrayed, Donnie gives the note to the FBI, and Jordan is arrested for breaching his cooperation deal. The FBI raids and shuts down Stratton Oakmont.

Despite this one breach, Jordan receives a reduced sentence for his testimony and is sentenced to 36 months in a minimum security prison in Nevada. After his 2006 release, Jordan makes a living hosting seminars on sales technique.

Cast

• Leonardo DiCaprio as Jordan Belfort
• Jonah Hill as Donnie Azoff (based on Danny Porush)
• Margot Robbie as Naomi Lapaglia (based on Nadine Caridi)
• Matthew McConaughey as Mark Hanna
• Kyle Chandler as Patrick Denham, FBI agent who is lead of the investigation
• Rob Reiner as Max "Mad Max" Belfort
• Jon Bernthal as Brad Bodnick
• Jon Favreau as Manny Riskin
• Jean Dujardin as Jean-Jacques Saurel
• Joanna Lumley as Aunt Emma
• Cristin Milioti as Teresa Petrillo
• Christine Ebersole as Leah Belfort
• Shea Whigham as Captain Ted Beecham
• Katarina Čas as Chantalle Bodnick
• P. J. Byrne as Nicky "Rugrat" Koskoff
• Kenneth Choi as Chester Ming
• Brian Sacca as Robbie "Pinhead" Feinberg
• Henry Zebrowski as Alden "Sea Otter" Kupferberg
• Ethan Suplee as Toby Welch
• Barry Rothbart as Peter Diblasio
• Jake Hoffman as Steve Madden
• Mackenzie Meehan as Hildy Azoff
• Spike Jonze as Dwayne
• Bo Dietl as Bo Dietl
• Jon Spinogatti as Nicholas
• Madison McKinley Garton as Heidi
• Aya Cash as Janet
• Thomas Middleditch as Stratton Broker in a Bowtie
• Shea Coleman as Skylar Belfort (14 months old)
• Giselle Eisenberg as Skylar Belfort (4 years old)
• Johnnie Mae as Violet
• Jordan Belfort as Auckland Straight Line Host

User Review

"The Wolf of Wall Street" is infectiously entertaining. It is probably the funniest movie I have seen all year with witty dialogue, over the top characters, and filled with energy that bleeds off the screen. Between all the fun however, there is also a story about addiction and how it can cause a downward spiral in your life whether it be drugs, money, or power.

Acclaimed director Martin Scorsese does a wonderful job keeping this movie at a high at all times. Never once does this movie lose it's energy or sense of humor much like the drug induced characters. There are a lot of quick cuts and edits to keep the movie feeling as If you are on drugs as well as playing high energy music in some of the more serious situations.

The cast brings their "A" game. The stand out is obviously Leonardo DiCaprio, who pretty much owns and excels any scene he is in. This film really showcases his diverse range.

Overall "The Wolf of Wall Street" is a full on adrenaline ride that never loses momentum. It's directed with a lot of flair and energy and has an incredibly well written script that gives it depth and a ton of laughs. The cast is fantastic and DiCaprio gives his best and most fun filled performance to date. I really enjoyed this movie and think it's the funniest movie of the year 4.5/5