The Wolf of Wall Street - overrated
While I do enjoy biographical movies, this is another one of those films that I feel would have been better had a more-believable-as-an-adult actor taken the lead role. This is a recurring theme for my reviews, but this movie would have been better had someone else been cast in the lead role of Jordan Belfort
Baby-face Leonardo DiCaprio strikes again and yes, I am overly critical of the dude but this is mainly because as I have mentioned many times before, he is not a believable authority figure. In this role, he takes on being Jordan Belfort, a real life stock-trading conman who ended up serving a mere 22 months in a plea deal where he sold out a great many of the people he was working with, including people who were primarily his underlings.
The movie presents the confidence man exploits of a stock trader duping people out of money to be a very rewarding and glamorous life and I am quite certain it is, right up until they get caught.
My problem isn't with the film, but it is with Leo playing the role of Jordan. Jordan in real life is an imposing figure full of charisma. When Leo has certain scenes where he is meant to be the big boss of the office, giving motivational speeches to an office full of adoring co-workers, he just seems like someone brought their teenage son to work that day and let him play with a microphone for a bit.
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I suppose this is something that plagues Leo but for most men they would consider it a fantastic gift, to look perpetually young. I find that it takes away from his performances but I apparently am in the minority since it seems everyone flocks to see his films in droves and I have to admit, i am one of the attendees, although I am in the audience hoping that he has an appropriate role and I don't think this was one of them.
I know that the Academy feels differently than I do because Leo was nominated for best actor for this role and i thoroughly disagree. Not because he did a bad job- he didn't - it's just that I feel he was the wrong choice for the lead role in the first place.
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One fantastic surprise that came out of this film was Johan Hill's portrayal of Donnie Azoff, who was Jordan Belfort's 2nd in command in a way. I feel as though Jonah is a fantastic actor with a wide array of skills as I find him compelling and accurate in both comedies and dramas. I think his best work is yet to come. He was also nominated, and unlike DiCaprio, I feel it was deserved. He didn't win either.
There was some controversy created by this film because Jordan was actually a terrible person who cheated loads of people out of hundreds of millions of dollars and critics felt as though the movie was actually focused on glorifying this rather than condemning it. I don't really care about that but it is a valid point. Mostly, for me, this movie fell short because once again, Leo is just not believable as an adult especially when he is trying to be intimidating. The movie is still pretty good and you can learn about things that actually happened - which is also a plus. However, you would have to pay me to get me to watch it again.
Professional critics rated this movie about 30% higher than the general public, which leads me to believe that the various academies are corrupt AF.
I remember seeing this a while ago and not being disappointed though I have less hate for Leonardo than you do.
I think I was pleasantly surprised by the depth of the story and the shocking debauchery after seeing the trailer and expecting another shallow DiCaprio turd.
I am definitely with you that I wouldn’t see it again no matter how many times that laughing screenshot turns into another meme.
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great response pal. I know i am harsh on Leo, but I really feel as though he is not terribly talented. Is it just me?
He is more looker and cokehead than generational talent in my mind but I don't begrudge him for his success.
I really liked the movie, mainly because its 3 hours are very entertaining, I was not bored at any time, and I was able to laugh several times. However, I can understand what you say, maybe someone could have done better than Leo, the question is, who?
However, I think we have discussed it before, Leo is not the best actor in the world, it's good, yes, but a little overrated, however, people come to see their films because they are generally good movies. Something that is obvious when he is associated with directors like Martin Scorsese.
Yep. it never hurts to have Scorsese on your side! :)
I do not watch movies or tv, but I was in someone's house while they were watching this very loud. I was a home health aid taking care of their mom in another room. All I heard for the whole time was yelling swear words. Screaming! I was so surprised.
The wife came in to check on me and I asked her what this was. She told me the name of it and said it was really good. That is the only way I know about it, but I hope no one else ever has to hear it like I did!
kutaraja
Best movie after Titanic in this world. Love to watch every time.
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Hi gooddream.I agree it is hard to take him seriously as an actor.Having a baby face hasn't made him believable. I thought anyone but him and it would have been 10 times better.
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That movie is cult, one of the best performances of the best actor in the world for me, a movie that leads to think the degrees of corruption and deprevacion that leads the human being, however it shows us a whole of American society and why not ? of the world ..... Greetings my friend.
6/10 better than I expected after reading your review.
Maybe it could have been better without Leo. Babyface I agree. The story, was boring, so I will never watch it again.
I had watched this movie a bit, cause didn't found it worthy! Felt the same though! Ratings are somewhat same as I feel.
Keep flourishing.