SMALLS GOES CRAZY WITH THE WOLF OF WALL STREET

The Wolf of Wall Street is yet another film about people trying to live the American dream by doing bad things, and the character of Jordan Belforte emerges as an American hero of sorts.

The Wolf of Wall Street follows Jordan Belfort (Leonardo Dicaprio), as he makes a spectacular rise on Wall Street, earning untold amounts of dollars scamming rich people via penny stocks and using the money he earns in various debauched ways. Along for the ride is his new best friend, Donnie Azof (Jonah Hill) and Jordan's new hyper-sexual wife, Naomi (Margot Robbie).

The Wolf of Wall Street is a decidedly different film for master director Martin Scorsese. In Wolf of Wall Street, Scorsese lets loose. The focus is more on wild fun than anything else. The film is extremely funny (It's a comedy! definitely the best and most funny comedy of the year) and we get countless scenes of full frontal nudity (probably most nudity I have seen in a film), sex, heavy drug usage, and various other acts of insanity that you must see to believe (what's crazier, this film is indeed based on a true story). You can tell that the talented cast and director had a blast making this film, and we have just as much fun watching them have fun.

Leonardo Dicaprio stars as Jordan Belfort, who steals from the rich and gives to himself and his friends. He's definitely not a nice guy, but amazingly I loved him and rooted for him. Not once did I want to see him get caught. Dicaprio puts on one of his best performances hands down (he is completely uninhibited here, and plays the role with a primal energy), and if he doesn't walk away with the Oscar for Best Actor then something is seriously wrong. This guy definitely deserves it. Jonah Hill also wows as dweeb-ish Donnie Azof, best friend to Jordan. He is every bit as insane and depraved as Jordan is, if not more so. Jonah plays against type here, and is very memorable. This is easily his best role to date.  I fully expect him to win Best Supporting Actor. Margot Robbie manages to impress as Naomi, Jordan's beautiful and sexy wife who gets fully nude a few times and has no problems showing off her body. Matthew McConaughey shines in a small role as well, and Kyle Chandler is great as the dick of a FBI agent that is hot on Jordan's tail. Every actor is on their A game here, no matter how big or small their role.

Wolf of Wall Street is a 3 hour film (originally it was 40 minutes longer and had even more sex and nudity in it, if you can believe that. That was the cut that received an NC-17, forcing Scorsese to trim the extra 40. As is, the film is still pretty close to an NC-17), and thus you really start to feel it after a while. I struggled through the last 45 minutes. Most of the film is a fun joyride through debauchery and naughtiness, but the end gets surprisingly dark and even a bit sad.

The Wolf of Wall Street is superbly shot, it's got a fantastic script, and top notch performances from all of it's cast. While it does run a bit long, every single second of this film is necessary. For most of the film you will be having so much fun watching all the depraved insanity that you shouldn't notice the running time except for when the last 45 minutes rear their head. Wolf of Wall Street is the most fun you will have in a movie theater this year, it deserves a Best Picture nom, as do Leo and Jonah for Best Actor and Best Supporting Actor. The Wolf of Wall Street is another out of the park home run for Martin Scorsese. SEE IT!!!

5 STARS