The Wolf on Wall Street

IMDb have given it 8.5/10 - which is crazily high for that site. But it contains Leonardo DiCaprio - so who wouldn't give it a 10? 

I expected a lot of drug taking and a lot of prostitutes. I expected a lot of money, selfishness, working all the time, people shouting down phones selling shares, the good life... 

There was an excessive, obsessive, addictive amount of drug use. And I mean, to the point I'm surprised no body killed themselves (think cocaine, cocaine, more cocaine and some Lemmons? not even sure if that is a real drug!). "A lot of prostitutes" was an understatement, as was a lot of money. There was not much working all the time and there were definitely people shouting down the phone selling shares. And the good life, didn't turn out quite as expected, even if most of the characters wore rose tinted glasses throughout.

The film starts with Jordan Belfort (DiCaprio) arriving on Wall Street for his first day as a rookie broker, or "pond scum" as he was christened by his boss. Jordan works his way up, buying his wife expensive gifts, promising her one day he would be a millionaire. Which he becomes, till the stock market crashes and all brokers are laid off. 

He ends up setting up his own stocks and shares selling business (selling "penny shares") and hiring his nut-job friends and trains them up. These guys were the most randomest bunch of lunatics ever. But they learnt to sell and they end up being filthy, dirty rich. Having too much money to know what to do with. But they find what to do, they buy drugs and prostitutes - in the office, in hotels... you name it, there was that going on. 

The film is an 18, the older couple in front of us didn't realise and I think they got a bit of a shock. I'm not just talking women naked, usually just from their waist up, this film contains everything. No male nakedness, just female nakedness and farrrr too much for that matter. Maybe that is just my view but there were a few eye rolls when another naked female came onto the screen. Definitely a film for the boys. 

Jordan sees his relationships crumble, his health deteriorate and he finds himself fighting for his company, his money (which lets be honest he didn't need too, as he had plenty), the respect of others, he was constantly trying to suss out what others were thinking, doing, being behind his back. 

The film gets confusing when what he is doing is illegal and he is conning small business and people with little money to buy a ridiculous amount of sales. He reminded me of Mr Wormword on Matilda in his selling techniques. He was selling things that he knew weren't quite right, but it made him money, so who cared?!

It gets more confusing when his wife (number 2) has enough, the FBI want him and many of his colleagues, he faces $100m fines, 20 years in jail, so what does he go? Gets high on drugs from 1981, which don't have an immediate effect, so him and his mate take the whole bottle and the mess gets bigger and far more dramatic. Cue car crashes, child kidnapping and what you could only technically  class as rape.

He played a good role, he has the right kind of face for a rogue salesman - imagine him with a slicked up lid. 

Different to his previous roles, but then I only know the one where he sinks into freezing cold water, hardly comparable, however he does end up in freezing cold water at one point. 

This film was quite long, some parts could have been made a lot shorter, however it was very clever in places. Joanna Lumley stars, a blonde version of Mila Kunis, actually Margot Robbie, Mathew McConaughey plays a very drugged up psycho broker and Jonah Hill, the star of SuperBad is hilarious. 

Money, drugs, women, Wall Street, powerful men (and a few powerful women), marriages, divorces, children and more drugs and you have yourself the Wolf on Wall Street. 

A must see! - I was surprisingly impressed

RHS x

Helped written by Natalie xx