Even if each scene doesn’t relate to Jordan’s “pump-and-dump” schemes with penny stocks or making Steve Madden an IPO, it enters viewers into the hectic underworld of the finance district, with drugs, alcohol, and women frequenting the behind-the-scenes of Stratton Oakmont. In addition, each scene moves quickly, wasting no time showing some of the most ridiculous things Belfort put himself through in real life. In contrast, Henry Hill and Ace Rothstein’s narration seems to have a sense of guilt and is thoughtful towards their description, even though they would instead continue their crimes if they had the choice. Belfort doesn’t take his confessional narration seriously, which is shown through his shallow introspections of his past. Scorsese and editor Schoonmaker notice how, unlike previous films in their thematic trilogy, “The Wolf of Wall Street” is much more reckless and nonsensical in tone. They have no plot, having an episodic structure in telling stories of corruption, fortune, and all the absurd aspects surrounding both subjects.Įven though the directionless film may put some people off, the film is engaging nevertheless. Each film is a biopic about men who confess to crimes of their past through voiceover narration. Jordan Belfort’s story is usually seen as an installment in a thematic trilogy with “Goodfellas” and “Casino,” when you look at each film, you can see similarities. When comparing the film with Scorsese’s other works, “The Wolf of Wall Street” remains his most significant outlier. His charismatic techniques made him and his business partner, Donny Azoff (Jonah Hill), build Stratton Oakmont, one of the wealthiest brokerage houses in the Financial World.

Luckily, with Belfort’s natural ability to sell anything to anyone, he can go from successfully selling penny stocks to the poor to selling penny stocks to the rich. Rothschild, supervised by the colorfully deranged Mark Hanna (in a brief appearance by Matthew McConaughey).īelfort’s time at Rothschild gives him a taste of being a wealthy stockbroker - but after his first day as a stockbroker (which happens to be on the day known as Black Monday), it sees him falling back into his middle-class roots, having to get a job selling penny stocks to the other working-class men. We start with him working his way into Wall Street as an intern at brokerage firm L.F. “The Wolf of Wall Street” is a biopic on the controversial life of former stockbroker Jordan Belfort (Leonardo DiCaprio). Whether it is due to the star Leonardo DiCaprio at the height of his career, the film’s amazingly crafted trailer, or the controversy surrounding the film’s MPAA rating/inappropriate content is still discussed. The film was director Martin Scorsese’s highest-grossing film, and it seemed to be the first Scorsese film ever to hit the zeitgeist. I’m probably not the first to say that “The Wolf of Wall Street” changed filmmaking over the past decade.

Wolf express rochester ny