One of the joys of writing about films on my modest (spin doctor alert) blog rather than being a proper film critic is that I don't have to analyze a film in any great depth. I walk out of the cinema and then tell you whether I liked it or I didn't. Whether I think you should spend your hard-earned to see it or not. After all, it's my aim to 'cut to the chase', not provide a review, per se, which you can find on a million other websites.
The Wolf of Wall Street is a little trickier. I saw it over a week ago and have given it quite a bit of thought since then and also read a lot of articles and reviews. As the credits rolled, the two people I was sitting with reacted strongly. One with "I hated that!" and one with "Really? I loved it!".
I enjoyed watching it a lot, in spite of it being three hours long. But I do see my hater-friend's perspective. Some of the characters in the film are truly awful people and that can be hard to watch.
The film is based on the memoirs of dodgy (convicted) stockbroker Jordan Belfort. To say he lived a life of debauchery on his rise to powerful multi-millionaire status would be an understatement and director Martin Scorsese really makes this spectacularly, graphically clear. There's a reason it's rated R here in Australia.
The cast is fantastic. Belfort is played brilliantly by Leonardo DiCaprio, scoring a best actor Golden Globe for his trouble. Co-stars Jonah Hill (with distracting weird fake teeth), Matthew McConaughey, Joanna Lumley and others are all great also. One pleasant surprise for me was Australian Margot Robbie who plays Jordan's wife. Never heard a hint of the Australian accent (same cannot be said of most Aussies in Hollywood) and quite apart from that, it was a terrific performance and I expect we'll see more of her on the big screen soon.
When it comes down to it, I enjoyed watching this film. You might walk out with mixed feelings like I did but I doubt you'll walk out thinking it wasn't worth the $19 ticket price. If you hate anything about it, it will likely be the awfulness of Wall Street depicted, not the film itself. If you see it, I'd love to hear what you think.
This review in The Guardian gave it 3 stars and this one in the UK Telegraph gave it 5 stars. You be the judge!
Trailer here.
The Wolf of Wall Street is a little trickier. I saw it over a week ago and have given it quite a bit of thought since then and also read a lot of articles and reviews. As the credits rolled, the two people I was sitting with reacted strongly. One with "I hated that!" and one with "Really? I loved it!".
I enjoyed watching it a lot, in spite of it being three hours long. But I do see my hater-friend's perspective. Some of the characters in the film are truly awful people and that can be hard to watch.
The film is based on the memoirs of dodgy (convicted) stockbroker Jordan Belfort. To say he lived a life of debauchery on his rise to powerful multi-millionaire status would be an understatement and director Martin Scorsese really makes this spectacularly, graphically clear. There's a reason it's rated R here in Australia.
The cast is fantastic. Belfort is played brilliantly by Leonardo DiCaprio, scoring a best actor Golden Globe for his trouble. Co-stars Jonah Hill (with distracting weird fake teeth), Matthew McConaughey, Joanna Lumley and others are all great also. One pleasant surprise for me was Australian Margot Robbie who plays Jordan's wife. Never heard a hint of the Australian accent (same cannot be said of most Aussies in Hollywood) and quite apart from that, it was a terrific performance and I expect we'll see more of her on the big screen soon.
When it comes down to it, I enjoyed watching this film. You might walk out with mixed feelings like I did but I doubt you'll walk out thinking it wasn't worth the $19 ticket price. If you hate anything about it, it will likely be the awfulness of Wall Street depicted, not the film itself. If you see it, I'd love to hear what you think.
This review in The Guardian gave it 3 stars and this one in the UK Telegraph gave it 5 stars. You be the judge!
Trailer here.