“The Wolf of Wall Street” has been slated as a cautionary tale of what not to do when it comes to success and wealth. Much like some of the other best picture nominees, “The Wolf of Wall Street” is a dated film, taking place in the late 80s and 90s. “The Wolf of Wall Street,” based on the memoir of the same title, tells the rise, the fall and all the excess behavior in between of New York stockbroker Jordan Belfort.
The ringleader and “wolf” in “The Wolf of Wall Street” is played by Leonardo DiCaprio. DiCaprio’s sidekick and partner-in-crime Donnie Azoff is played by Jonah Hill. Again, like much of the best picture nominees, “The Wolf of Wall Street” features various actors in cameo roles including “Dallas Buyers Club”’s Matthew McConaughey, “The Walking Dead”’s Jon Bernthal and “The Artist”’s Jean Dujardin.
“The Wolf of Wall Street” is a film that warns and predicts what wealth and success can do to a person. Like most of the stories of Wall Street that start out with the best of intentions, Belfort starts out as an honest, young married man looking to make some money and a name for himself on Wall Street. Before long, Belfort loses a good woman who is truly made for him with only his best interests in mind by doing drugs, cheating and becoming attracted to money and wealth, and finds interest in a woman looking only for wealth and a life of luxury. By the end of the film, Jordan Belfort has lived and lost, but he comes out of the fire seemingly to have learned from his experience and life of excess.
“The Wolf of Wall Street” is up for various awards this season, one of which was a golden globe that Leonardo DiCaprio has already taken home for his leading role. Both Leonardo DiCaprio and Jonah Hill are nominated for Academy Awards for their roles in “The Wolf of Wall Street,” something that almost wasn’t possible for Hill, considering he wasn’t even supposed to be in the film in the first place. As reported by the New York Post, Hill only scored $60,000, the minimum an actor can be offered for a role set by the Screen Actors Guild, for his Academy Award-nominated role, which seems like nothing compared to DiCaprio’s 10 million dollar payday. Altogether “The Wolf of Wall Street” is nominated for a total of five Academy Awards including best picture, best actor in a leading and supporting role, best director and best writing in an adapted screenplay.
Although “The Wolf of Wall Street” is packed to the max with the most ‘f’ bombs used in a film of history and sex, it is a decent movie. The film’s entire purpose was to showcase a man’s excessive and severely over-indulgent lifestyle, which the film does. So not only does Martin Scorsese’s “The Wolf of Wall Street” serve its purpose, it also serves as a warning sign to those searching for wealth and success.
