Movie Review: "The Wolf of Wall Street"

Took myself down to see the newest Martin Scorsese / Leonardo DiCaprio collaboration, "The Wolf of Wall Street", this afternoon.  This movie could also be titled "Goodfellas Go To Wall Street" since there are many similarities to that classic Scorsese movie, including the main character's voice narration of the movie, that same character directly addressing the movie audience at points in the show, a loud and frenetic soundtrack, and an incredible amount of profanity. Oh, and then there is the unbelievable amount of drug use, and, of course, enough sexual activity and nudity to more than justify the movie's R rating.

Definitely not one you want to attend with your parents, and not one that would be a good "first date" movie, either.

All that said, did I like the movie?  Yeah, I did, because, once again, Scorsese has painted a picture of amoral - to put the best face on it - people, better than just about anyone making movies today, and DiCaprio delivers an absolutely kick-ass performance as the title character.  Really, has he ever given a bad performance in anything?  I am guessing that there will be Oscar nominations for both of them.

However, for all of the in-your-face sensory overload that this movie delivers, the very best scene in the movie, in my mind, is a quiet one on Jordan Belfort's (DiCaprio) yacht when Kyle Chandler, as the FBI agent pursuing him, meets face to face with Belfort/DiCaprio.  Great scene.

It's a great cast that includes Jonah Hill (in a Joe Pesci-type role), Rob Reiner, Matthew McConaughey, Jean Dujardin, and an absolutely gorgeous young (22 years old) actress from Australia named Margot Robbie.  Oh, and famous private eye Bo Dietl, the guy from the Arby's commercials, plays, are you ready for this?, a private eye named Bo Dietl, and he's pretty good in the part! 

Just as a treat for all you Loyal Readers, he is a picture of Ms. Robbie in a scene from the movie, and if you have already seen the movie, you know that this still picture doesn't do her or the scene in question justice!