HUB Movie Review: The Wolf of Wall Street
This wolf doesn’t come out at night.
Take a leap into the 80s and 90s and that of the glamorous life of the real stock broker turned millionaire. Though, as per the controversy surrounding this movie, glamorizing the life of Jordan Belfort is not something you would not want to do.
This movie, the name which comes from an article written about Mr. Belfort, follows the life story of this man, portrayed by Leonardo DiCaprio, from the moment he steps foot on Wall Street to when ends up in a jail cell. You see how he spirals out of control under the power of money, drugs, women and sex. He then falls under the watchful eyes of the FBI, which is where the real trouble begins.
Though what happens is unrealistic, don’t worry, because everything Belfort and his buddies did was extremely worse. It may be unrealistic in that it is toned down from his actual life.
As much as it may surprise you, this is a comedy (if not, a dramedy). There is one scene where you will laugh hysterically, depending on who you are. (When I saw it with my friend, in a theater full of middle-aged people, we laughed hysterically while the others…maybe not as much.)
This may be as much of a warning as part of the plot: there is a tremendous amount of swearing (506 f-bombs used), nudity, drug use and sexual activity going on in this film. Proceed with caution.
This acclaimed movie had some mixed reviews from audiences and critics. It has an 8.2 audience rating on IMDb, a 75 on Metacritic and 70 on RottenTomatoes, which are not bad numbers considering the content. It was nominated for five Oscars, including Best Director, Best Picture, Best Adapted Screenplay, Supporting Actor and Best Actor (for which DiCaprio should have won and not McConaughey, who funnily enough is also in this movie!).
It won none. DiCaprio did win Best Actor in a comedy role though at the Golden Globes. It’s not an Oscar, but it’s a start.
On the Penn State Scale...
1—when Penn State loses a game,
2—an 8 a.m class (which are awful),
3—a canceled 8 a.m class,
4— free textbooks,
and 5—free Creamery ice cream for a whole year,
Wolf gets a 3.8. The story of Wolf works because it focuses more on Belfort’s life and less on what is happening in the stock market, which is all mumbo-jumbo anyways.
You’re intrigued by what is happening in his life because for most of us millennials, we have no clue about this guy anyways. You definitely want the cops to catch him, considering what he is doing.
The acting (with one exception, see below) is well executed by the actors involved, most notably DiCaprio who goes to quite some lengths in order to bring out the real Belfort to the screen.
What annoyed me the most with this movie was the fact that there was too much sex (there is quite a lot of it, worse than Game of Thrones even). They were pointless scenes that were not important to the plot. You think several times during the film, “Okay, I get it. Can we move on now?”
What else annoyed me was Belfort’s buddy Donnie Azoff played by Jonah Hill. Apparently his performance was Oscar worthy, however, I found him dumb and incredibly infuriating (maybe that is Oscar worthy). I grew tired of his antics and arguments which had no depth to them. The movie would be better without him. Azoff made the movie less enjoyable.
*Viewer discretion is most definitely advised.
**This movie will show on Friday and Saturday at 11 p.m. It is three hours long. American Hustle will be showing at 10 p.m. on Thursday, and at 8 p.m. on Friday and Saturday.
Sofia Westin is a freshman majoring in broadcast journalism. To contact her, email sgw5090@psu.edu.
