Photo Credit: Hollywood Reporter

Disclaimer: This is not a review full of spoilers. Here I will only offer my thoughts and recommend it based on certain criteria. You must watch the movie for yourself and enjoy it in all of its pure, unfiltered, brand new glory.

Because it felt like eons since I last went to the movies (seriously, I can’t even tell you the last film I saw in theaters. Please don’t fling rocks at me.), I decided to see The Wolf of Wall Street with my best friend this weekend. I had a pretty solid gut feeling about the film going in (you know, one of those over the top, baroque, absurd exhibitions of inordinateness… i.e. The Great Gatsby), but was still shocked in every moment… Every moment of the three. hour. behemoth. Seriously, like did it really need to be 180 minutes? I thought movies that long ended with The Curious Case of Benjamin Button. I could have had three root canals, or driven to Disney World, or gotten two manicure/pedicures. But let me not talk about the film’s length for as long as the film’s length. I’ll start reviewing.

The Wolf of Wall Street focuses on a young and powerful New York stock broker named Jordan Belfort and his ring of fellow corrupt, slimy, skeevy, degenerate businessmen. As you can tell from the previews (and first five minutes of the film), he came from humble beginnings and grew to possess a massive empire on Wall Street. I won’t get too much into the plot though (A. because you have to see it, B. I’m an English major, not a Business major, C. the only stock I understand is cooking stock).

As a whole, the movie was insanely risqué and profane; it’s certainly rated R. I wouldn’t recommend seeing it with a great aunt, younger brother, boss, priest, acquaintance, etc. Watch it with a significant other or best friend; you’ll thank me later. With that said, the production was incredible and the budget must have been unspeakable. I applaud Martin Scorsese for his adroit manipulation of mise en scène, montages, and a phenomenal script. (I just took a class on Hispanic Cinema so I’m actually competent with film analysis. Too bad I learned 95% of the terms in Spanish). The acting also proved authentic and entertaining. Leonardo DiCaprio and Jonah Hill were unbelievable. Also shout out to Matthew McConaughey for his psychotic cameo. I loved the soundtrack too.

All in all, The Wolf of Wall Street was well-made yet disturbing. While the audience howled and cackled during certain “funny” parts, I cringed in fear for/of humanity and wondered about the state of our universe, both financially and morally. It’s definitely worth the experience, but that’s what it is – an experience. I still have super mixed feelings.

Name: The Wolf of Wall Street

Year: 2013

Actors: Leonardo DiCaprio, Jonah Hill, Margot Robbie, Matthew McConaughey

Rating: 4/5