QZ qz thoughts
a blog from Eli the Bearded

The Wolf of Wall Street

I saw American Hustle in the theatres but waited for DVD to watch this. Seems like the right choice. I split the viewing up over two nights since it was so damn long. (My intermission point was the blackout on the airplane, about 100 minutes in.)

There are a couple of pieces of great acting, some excellent camera work in places, and a very believable feel to a lot of it. It's also very clearly one-sided, takes protraying excess to excess, and in all that time still leaves some key points unexplained. I'm going to comment about the one I found most extreme.

This is a minor spoiler if you haven't watched, but since it's been so long I'm assuming readers won't mind. But a bit of space.

Belfort wears a wire and warns Azoff not to incriminate himself via a written note. Later the FBI has the note in a plastic bag when they come to arrest Belfort. It is never explained how the FBI got that note. There are several possibilites: Azoff was also already working with the FBI and gave it to them. Azoff decided to work with the FBI and gave it to them because of the note. The FBI found it some other way (going through trash, other informer). It is also never explained what the consequences of the FBI getting the note are. Did finding it trigger the raid? Or was that happening on an indendent schedule? But Belfort still gets a short sentence for cooperating, even though the note suggests he wasn't really cooperating. Huh?

My wife compared this movie to an updated DiCaprio in Great Gatsby, wild parties, significant pool scene, a few other things. We both agreed that the intro should have started later in Belfort's story before flashing back. The movie starts with perhaps the highlight of time, but starting with the FBI arrest during the commercial filming or the final "Sell me this pen" bit would have been more powerful.

Apparently this is a three "fuck" per minute film, I'll give it one and a half out of three.

Final thought: it's not the first Scorsese film to raise the profanity bar