Many reviewers rained down with negativity on Scorsese’s apparent avoidance of dealing with the moral issues that lie dormant at the centre of The Wolf of Wall Street. The suffering of the clients at the hands of the ego-maniacal Jordan Belfort and co. was simply neglected they exclaimed. Yet it is precisely this avoidance that makes this film, in fact, a more accurate portrayal of their self-indulgent trading lifestyle. The stock brokers living in their excessive, hedonistic bubble are oblivious to the harsh realities of the outside world and the anguish they have caused. Scorsese perfectly reflects this surreal, extraordinary and walled-in world where money, sex and drugs flow freely from the Wall Street tap.
With this said, the audience is invited to share in this sordid and exclusive existence and are, themselves, seduced and intoxicated by the vibrant, buzzing, electrifying debauchery. It is almost impossible not to be amused and greatly entertained by Leonardo DiCaprio and Jonah Hill’s antics and misadventures. There are so many laugh-out-loud moments that only serve to add to the audience’s complicity with, and pleasure of, this decadent vacuum of a film.
Verdict: It is funny, sexy, exhilarating, glitzy and glamorous. Yet there are darker and more sinister moments that cut through this façade, a juxtaposition that leaves the audience feeling rudely unsettled like in those cold, sharp moments of sobriety amidst a sea of drug-fuelled, escapist frenzy.
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