The Wolf of Wall Street

           “The Wolf of Wall Street” is the latest movie directed by Martin Scorsese. The screenplay was written by Terence Winter, and the book was written by Jordan Belfort, who wrote about his own life and is the main character of the story. The stars of the film include Leonardo DiCaprio, Jonah Hill, Margot Robbie and Matthew McConaughey. This movie came out on Christmas, but it’s definitely not the typical family movie.

I really enjoyed this movie, but I think a person needs to have a pretty open mind in order to like it. The f-word was used pretty extensively, although I didn’t notice it was used that much while watching it. There is also a lot of drug use and sexual content. This was the first time that I went to a movie where a group of people actually got up and left about ten minutes into it. Viewers should know what they’re getting into. “The Wolf of Wall Street” has a 76 percent fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes. I think it should be higher, but I can see why some critics wouldn’t like it.

The film is about Jordan Belfort’s journey to fulfill his dream of being rich by being a stockbroker. Belfort (DiCaprio) learned from the best on Wall Street (McConaughey) and took what he learned to create his own firm. He did whatever he could to make as much money as possible, even though that involved some serious scams. All of his activity didn’t go unnoticed.

The storyline is as interesting as it is disturbing. It’s thoroughly entertaining though. At one point of the movie, there's almost a "Titanic" moment, which makes me laugh. Even though the movie is three hours long, it kept me engaged. I was never tempted to check my watch, and I think part of the reason for this was the acting.

DiCaprio played the role of Belfort very well. He started off as a tentative young man, just starting to learn the ropes of stocks with a dream of being a millionaire. He became more and more corrupted throughout the film. He did a great job of showing the different dimensions of the character, making the audience love and hate him all at once. Without giving too much away, I think the scene with the lemons was amazing. I have no clue how DiCaprio pulled that off, but I was laughing and horrified at the same time. If he doesn’t win an award for this role, it would be a terrible shame.

I also thought McConaughey played his role very well. It was just for a short time at the beginning, but it made a lasting impression. Hill’s character was in line with the types of roles he has done in the past, so he did a believable performance.

The end of the movie seems to be taken in a few different ways. Some see it as a cautionary tale, some see it as triumph over challenges, and others see it the way I do. I see the ending as a combination of the two. It clearly shows punishment for severe wrong doings, but it also shows how it’s possible to come out of it on the other side. I don’t think there is an incorrect way to look at the movie. It just depends on personal opinions. However, I believe this a great movie, no matter how you feel about outcome.