The Wolf of Wall Street 2013
By
Martin Scorsese
For anyone who swears by both Martin Scorsese and Robert de Niro, Leonardo Decaprio has sneaked in as an imposter. I have enjoyed
almost all of Leonardo’s non-Scorsese work, but when it comes to his partnership
with Marty, I have always had my doubts and have never been able to watch these films dispassionately. In The Gangs of New York, I could just see Daniel Day Lewis. In
The Aviator, I thought Leonardo overdid his part a bit. The Departed belonged to Jack
Nicholson, and Mark Wahlberg stole the rest of it from Leonardo and Matt Damon. Shutter
Island failed to impress me much despite the hype. When I first saw The Wolf of Wall Street, I
liked the film but thought McConaughey was unlucky to get a very small part and
that the film was too long. Leonardo was good, but maybe not exceptional. I also
felt justice was done when Mc pipped Leo at the Oscars for his role in DALLAS
BUYERS CLUB. I don't think Leonardo has been able to give his best while teaming
up with Martin Scorsese. His best has come in films like The Revenant and Django
Unchained. But that’s a very unpopular and possibly biased view and I am humbly aware
of that.
I watched THE WOLF OF THE WALL
STREET again yesterday, without any expectations. One thing strikes you like a
hot air blow is just how much is Marty obsessed with drugs. The film should have been named THE LUDE
REMINISCENES or still better A LUDE UP YOUR ASS. McConaughey as the senior
stockbroker in Rothchild's and an early mentor for Leo is just mind-blowing. He
sets the tone for the rest of the film to follow. It's all about coke, pussy and dollars and the ability of a broker to keep the money invested and the deals
flowing. Damn, he should have been nominated for the Best Supporting Actor as
well, not Jonah Hill. Now the latter was good in his part, but he doesn’t ignite
one’s imagination as McCon does. It was a role to remember and not even a
nomination to show for it! Leo takes up the
film from where McCon leaves and keeps
it afloat.
Then there is Margot Robbie, there are penny stocks and there are
IPOs, sure enough there is FBI on his trail, and then there is a lot of sex, drugs and
rock and roll. They live hard and earn big. Big money thrives on the frontier of
craziness and genius. One needs inspiration to inhabit that zone. Goodfellas was
an epic on drug trade and wise guys. The Wolf is a tribute to the mayhem on the
Wall street.
The film is good, as all Leo-Marty collabs are. But it stops short of being a great work. While the actor is earnest, he gets too conscious of Bobby's footsteps that he has stepped into. As for Marty, there is no doubt that even an Auteur slips with time. But one must concede that
this has been his best effort (till yet) since he won the Oscar for The
Departed. He won his eighth nomination
for best directorial effort, which was won by Alfonso Cuaron for Gravity.
The Wolf manages to thrill, and if we
stop the comparison business, fulfils its promise.
#jonahhill #martinscorsese #leonardodecaprio #matthewmcconaughey #thewolfofwallstreet #margotrobbie #lude
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