'The Wolf of Wall Street' review by Captain Raptor

'The Wolf of Wall Street' review by Captain Raptor

This year's Academy Awards are, unusually, quite tough to predict. Most of the nominees would be odds-on Best Picture in any other year; there's 12 Years A Slave, the liberal issues movie by a relative unknown; Dallas Buyers Club, a film about terminal disease that required dramatic weight loss; Captain Phillips, something with Tom Hanks in it. And of course, The Wolf of Wall Street, a chance to reward/apologize to the actor and director that are arguably the most under-appreciated in the Academy Award' history.

DiCaprio's chances of winning his own naked gold man are certainly looking good with the performance he gives here. His various monologues are superb in how unrestrained he can be, and he delivers lines with smooth charm laced with menace. While it's not exactly the most complex or engaging role he's ever been given, the energy he puts in is absolutely phenomenal, and he's able to more than confidently carry the proceedings. The proceedings happen to include blowing cocaine up a prostitute's bottom and taking so many pills that he goes into a "cerebral palsy phase", and the problem is that Scorsese doesn't seem to have made up his mind if he wants to play these straight or as darkly comic. Although it's a riotous and hugely entertaining affair, the balance between drama and comedy is done slightly awkwardly, so the finished product is neither as funny or as dramatic as it could have been. The onslaught of debauchery that is the film's cornerstone does suffer from the law of diminishing returns but it still holds up, and the on-form cast manages to all but entirely wash that problem away with charisma and spirit in equal measure. Jonah Hill and a cavalcade of office drones make good backing support for DiCaprio, and Margot Robbie as his put-upon second wife is equally great, but the leader of the pack behind DiCaprio is Rob Reiner as his bellowing, exasperated father, a performance that's especially impressive given that he's primarily a director.

In terms of direction, Scorsese's talent is definitely visible but not particularly outstanding. The film's strength comes more from The Sopranos' writer Terence Winters' script packed full of excessive immorality and bravado than it does from any of Scorsese's touches. The visuals are impressive though, and the mood of the film is so electric that even offices feel like they're brimming with energy. As is often the case with films based on a true story, the plot isn't wholly satisfying - there isn't anything that really resembles a character arc, and the ending is a little limp. But it's got charm, intelligence and shock in abundance, and all the menace, style and gravitas one would expect from a Scorsese film, so really, what are a few minor issues?

The Wolf of Wall Street is a three-hour long journey headfirst into a world of drugs, sex, corruption, sex and drugs. It's not the strongest Oscar contender and nor is it the best film of its kind, but make no mistake, the wolf is a wily and vicious beast. High expectations and having it as my follow-up to 12 Years A Slave do it no favours, and it is a genuinely brilliant movie. DiCaprio is absolutely fantastic, Hill and Reiner are hilarious, and you should all go and see this movie right now.