Living it up, wolfing it down

Though 12 Years a Slave, Gravity and Dallas Buyers' Club were the big winners at the 2014 Oscars, American Hustle and The Wolf of Wall Street.  While the vibe was that the last one would not win big, especially as Martin Scorsese, its director, was given a lifetime achievement award when winning Best Director for The Departed, there were hopes that Leonardo DiCaprio would finally break his Oscars duck. Ultimately, that was forlorn as the runaway train of sentiment for Best Actor behind Matthew McConaughey in Dallas Buyers Club could not be caught, just as it was for Sandra Bullock when she won Best Actress for The Blind Side - a popular persona that had never previously been seen to scale the heights of the profession (McConaughey being the subject of some savage take-downs by Family Guy) who had finally 'realised his potential' - it was 'his year' to win, partly maybe because he would never have another shot at it again.  If DiCaprio can console himself after a fifth Oscars nomination without consummation, he can be sure that his talent will bring him to the podium eventually (although maybe when it won't be his best performance), he just needs to talk to Scorsese.
The Wolf of Wall Street has been hailed as Martin Scorsese's best film since 1990's Goodfellas and indeed it follows a similar narrative arc to that 1992 outing (and Casino for that matter as well) - aspiring hoodlum makes a few mistakes but ultimately scores in the big time, hubris takes over, the cops close in, confessions and jail time for some big fish follow, concluding with a gradual winding down of the previous life.  Like Ray Liotta's Henry Hill who "For as long as I can remember I always wanted to be a gangster'" the Jordan Belfort of DiCaprio always wanted to be a stockbroker.  While stockbroking may seem more respectable than racketeering, Scorsese makes no bones about the gangsterism inherent in each.  Jordan Belfort, like Henry Hill, is a real-life character whose book provided the inspiration for the film.  However, whereas at the conclusion of Goodfellas, Hill is in the witness protection programme condemned to look over his shoulder for the rest of his life, Belfort is forcibly humbled but his personality remains unchanged, perfectly illustrated by Belfort himself playing a character who introduces his cinematic alter-ego.
Ironically considering their Oscars' brush, Matthew McConaughey is also a key figure in The Wolf of Wall Street (and yes, once again, his shirt top comes off), but this is DiCaprio's tour de force.  The cast is largely unstarry, with Jonah Hill, Jon Favereau, Rob Reiner plus (uncredited) Spike Jonze, Joanna Lumley and Ray Winstone (Winstone plays an American PI whose East End accent constantly threatens to break through and dump him in the River Lea) - this though allows DiCaprio to take centre stage and, as Scorsese's replacement for Robert De Niro, he gives full vent to megalomaniacal charisma.  Gordon Gekko was a workaholic; Belfort wants to have fun as well.
This is not to say that Scorsese approves of Belfort, making repeated efforts to belittle him, not least his premature ejaculation.  Though of course with a feed-through to reality, Belfort shows a predator's callousness when he learns of the death of his in-law, Aunt Emma (Lumley) because she had been doing a money-laundering run to Switzerland, but unless he could forge her signature within 24 hours, he would lose the $20m she had stashed away for him.  His recklessness ends up costing $40m as not only does he not make it in time but in a dash across the Mediterranean, they run into the storm the captain predicted and the luxury yacht with its two helicopters goes down.  Though initially rock-solid in their denials, when the first domino falls, after an initial act of camarderie that is met with betrayal, Belfort sells out all of his long-term colleagues to save his own skin.
Any movie at three hours has to be a pretty lean beast to keep audiences from shuffling in their seats and Scorsese largely accomplishes this.  It won't win any prizes for editing: at one point Hill's Donnie knocks over a glass of beer off a parapet and we hear the smash.  In the next shot the beer is back in its original place, another change of perspective has the beer gone again.  It was surprising that this continuity error wan't picked up as there is then a slow-mo descent of the beer glass (in some sort of flashback as Belfort narrates).  Also, Belfort's second wife Naomi is described as being the ultimate fashionista but would she really wear the exact same design of knee-high boots ten years on after she had first worn them (not least through the wear and tear they would have suffered)?  The drug-taking experiences of DiCaprio's Belfort makes me wonder if Scorsese's own massive consumption had any input into the portrayal.
Apparently, the lack of a moral comeuppance for Belfort (who has a comfortable and short prison existence) prompted many to walk out or express their anger.  Maybe they were the ones duped by the likes of Belfort, tempted by A-list shares before being lured on to the rocks of penny stocks.  Unaffected as I am, I can view it more dispassionately and it is a great film. 4.5 out of 5.