This film is easily one of the most puzzling films of the year for me next to Man of Steel. There is definitely a ton of good in this film. DiCaprio is on fire in this role, just incredible. It wasn't like the Great Gatsby, where I really didn't see a character, just DiCaprio. I saw exactly who DiCaprio was trying to show, Belfort. Then, Jonah Hill equally kills it along side of DiCaprio. I honestly got lost in Hill's character because of how amazing he did. The perfect casting for him. Now, the screenplay of this is film is amazing. This film is easily one of the funniest movies I have seen all year. The conversations that these people have are amazing and became the highlight of this film. The script felt very Tarantino-ish however. Possibly because of all the talking and the over the top characters.
My problem with this film is Martin Scorsese. Very rarely will I say I have a problem with the director. I really enjoyed his direction and it felt like one of his films with push ins with the dollies and well used moving cameras. I have a problem with the tone of the film. When I walked out of the movie, I was stuck like I didn't know if Scorsese wanted me to feel bad for these guys or if he wanted me to hate them. I felt like the tone was all over the pace. It has the same problem as in Pain and Gain (I know I just compared Michael Bay to Martin Scorsese). The person that the film was about was a really bad person but it was made into a comedy so I have no idea what to feel about this person by the end. Also, the run time is a 3 hours long and the last 45 could almost be cut from the film. The actually ending of the film felt very sloppy to me.
With all that being said, this just missed the cut for one of my favorites of the year. I really enjoyed the film because the writing and characters are just so damn interesting along with all the side characters in the film and the style it had. I really want and need to see it again. So with that I am going to give it a
RATING
3.25 out of 4 Ticket Stubs.
