Fasten your seat belt. Director Martin Scorsese, seldom a master of understatement, delivers a legs-splayed, in your face display of rip-snorting, and I do mean snorting, excesses in the life of the penny stock con man Jordan Belfort during the get rich financial heyday of the late 80’s.
Consider this the most wild and full frontal send up of alcohol, sex, profanity and drug induced excesses shown recently in a mainline film rated R.
Is this a December 25 holiday film for the entire family? Sure, if it inflames testosterone driven 15 year old boys who seem to be Hollywood’s targeted paying audience. I’m wondering about the rest of us.
I laughed and cringed at Scorsese’s depiction of greed and carnal avarice as Leonardo DiCaprio, playing Belfort, reverses the Robin Hood mantra by stealing from the poor little guy and giving to wannabe rich Stockbroker bum-fucks.
Clocking in at nearly 3 hours, this endless sexcapade of excess left me searching for even a single character that I could remotely care about.
OK, maybe the boy scout FBI agent Patrick Denham, perfectly embodied by Kyle Chandler. He offered me a toehold into human decency but that was it.
Australian newcomer Margot Robbie makes a ravishing debut as a sexually voracious opportunist that stole my heart with her sensual vulnerability but rudely broke it as her character became an avenging shrew of demented proportions.
Endless immersion into a world of self-centered, me-me, bottom feeders – women and men alike -- caused me to leave the theatre feeling the need for a long, long cleansing shower.
Merry Christmas, indeed.
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