Retro Review: The Wolf of Wall Street

A Sheep In Wolf's Clothing

Even though we are past the midway point of the year, one film that has definitely stuck with me from early January is Martin Scorcese's comedy/drama The Wolf Of Wall Street.  Not only is it a combination of director and cast working at the height of their careers, but it also is a scathing indictment of the American banking system, the people that work within it and the love of greed for the sake of greed.

The film is a loose biopic of Jordan Belfort (played by Leonardo DiCaprio); an aspiring Wall Street banker who just happens to start his career on the same day of a stock market crash. To find a way in the world and a way of providing for his family, he starts to sell penny stocks in the American pink sheets to the clueless public once he finds out you can make a huge commission off their purchases.

He employs a select group of low-time criminals from his old neighbourhood to pretend to be smooth Wall Street bankers in order to earn as much money as possible. Eventually, the amount of money builds and builds, as well as the reputation of the company, and soon, Belfort's small rag-tag gang of thieves resembles the established banks and firms that Belfort didn't have a chance to compete against.

If you don't understand stock markets, don't worry, neither do I.  However, Belfort speaks to the viewer early on in the film to say that you don't need to know. All you need to know is that they are doing very illegal activities. We are then treated to almost three hours of incredibly debauched events, featuring some of the most amoral, selfish and over-the-top characters that I have seen in a film.

The amount of crime and misbehaviour escalates to ridiculous proportions, with DiCaprio's Belfort making more and more money, paying for bigger and bigger houses and indulging in stronger and stronger pharmaceuticals, resulting in an extended scene of physical comedy that wouldn't be found in even the broadest comedy film. Immediately afterwards Belfort hosts a group meeting to discuss throwing a little person at a dartboard like a human dart, all the while snorting copious amounts of cocaine and treating $100 bills like tissue paper. It becomes laughable but there is always the reminder that this is based on real events in Belfort's life and it feels even more ridiculous.

However the fantastic aspect of The Wolf of Wall Street is that it is not all underlined with a heavy-handed moral lesson or comeuppance for these horrendous characters. The film treats you with the maturity to know that these actions are horrible and that something will happen to these characters in time, all you have to do is wait and watch. However the film does not pull punches with the reasons behind their behaviour; they do all these debauched activities because it's fun. These people are so empty and shallow, they have to fill the voids with prostitutes, drugs and just more money, and they have immense amounts of fun while doing it. Whilst some of the actions are deplorable, you as the audience can't help but go along for the ride and almost get a contact high from the people living the life you never could, much to your own shame.

The actors perform for Scorcese so well that you fully understand why their lives are so seedy and why the prospect of unlimited amounts of money is so appealing.   DiCaprio is performing at a career high, making a living now out of playing these debauched high-life types such as Calvin Candie in Django Unchained, Gatsby in The Great Gatbsy and now Jordan Belfort. His effortless charisma is incredibly evident and the partnership he shares with Scorcese again proves a winning combination. Jonah Hill performs against type as a nerdy schmuck, in awe of Belfort's lifestyle and becomes wrapped up in the madness that he encounters.  He is an effective comic foil for DiCaprio's Belfort, as he is essentially Belfort's hopes and dreams but without the good looks and the charisma, his basic desires for life but without the maturity and pathos to offset his amorality, and he deservedly earned the Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actor.

The inherent message within the film will probably be lost amongst the general public; remembered for the generous amount of time dedicated to Belfort's devious rise to the heights of Wall Street and not the inevitable fall from grace that concerns the final third of the film.  Much like Goodfellas, Scarface and the original Dawn of the Dead, I fear it will be championed by viewers who fail to understand the messages held within; seeing the film as meaningless entertainment or at worst, an advocate for greed, debauchery and self-preservation.  The inherent indictment of America's corrupt financial system and it's influence on well-meaning individuals, not to mention the effect that Belfort's greed had on his faceless victims, will not prey on their mind. It is truly unfortunate that the film may become just a cult classic; Scorcese's post-Goodfellas commentary on the supposed American Dream, instead of being held as one of his greatest and more cerebral films about the nature of greed within an ultimately corrupt and failed system.

Until next time folks, thanks for reading!

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Genie, You're Free

I'm still in complete and total shock.  I learned of Robin Williams' passing last night at around 3am and I'll be honest, I cried.  I couldn't believe what I was reading.  The man who represented all that was happy and funny in the world, wasn't in it anymore.  It must have been a joke, a sick and cruel joke, perpetrated by one of the all-time gag masters.  But unfortunately, I began reading more and more news reports, it only solidified the truth of it.

Growing up, Robin Williams was my idol.  From Aladdin, to Popeye, to Toys, to Hook, to FernGully, to Jumanji, to Flubber, to Mrs. Doubtfire; the man was incredibly and infectiously funny.  I thank my parents so much for introducing 5 year old me to his films and him in general.  His rubber-faced antics encouraged me to emulate him amongst my family and our friends.  I became known as "doing the best Genie impression" and I still remember his arrival speech from Aladdin word-for-word.  I truly wanted to be him.  He began my passion for appreciating comedy and making others laugh, one of the few things I think I do well in this life.

I regret not taking the time to appreciate his roles in more recent films, and whilst I have watched One Hour Photo, Insomnia and the Night at the Museum films, I never found the time to watch Good Will Hunting, Good Morning Vietnam, Dead Poets Society and more of his serious roles in film.  It's never a bad time to start, but I wish something else would have inspired me to watch them instead.

Two statements have been released that I feel sum up Mr Williams perfectly:

US President Barack Obama:

"Robin Williams was an airman, a doctor, a genie, a nanny, a president, a professor, a bangarang Peter Pan, and everything in between. But he was one of a kind. He arrived in our lives as an alien – but he ended up touching every element of the human spirit. He made us laugh. He made us cry. He gave his immeasurable talent freely and generously to those who needed it most – from our troops stationed abroad to the marginalized on our own streets. The Obama family offers our condolences to Robin’s family, his friends, and everyone who found their voice and their verse thanks to Robin Williams."

Robert A. Iger (chairman of The Walt Disney Company):

"We're deeply saddened by the loss of Robin Williams, a wonderfully gifted man who touched our hearts and never failed to make us laugh. An incredible actor and a comedic genius, Robin will always be remembered for bringing some of the world's favourite characters to life, from his zany alien on ABC's Mork & Mindy to the irascible genie in Disney's Aladdin. He was a true Disney Legend, a beloved member of our family, and he will be sorely missed. We join Robin's friends and fans everywhere in mourning, and offer our thoughts and condolences to his family during this difficult time."

According to reports, people are blaming this on Mr Williams' recent bouts with depression.  Hopefully one thing to take away from this tragedy will be highlighting the serious effects of an illness that most people brush aside and say 'Just look on the bright side'.  I have known people who suffer from depression, have been told to simply 'Take it with a pinch of salt' and thankfully they haven't resorted to drastic measures like apparently Mr Williams did.  I truly hope this positive can be taken away from such a negative event.  Please remember that even the great clowns of this world can be crying on the inside.

He was my childhood hero and I will never forget such a great man that changed my life for the better.

Thank you Mr Williams.  For everything.

My Precious

A few months ago, I wrote a guest blog for my friend Suzy Marie on her fantastic site Eeep! I'm A Blogger! The topic was 'My Precious' and I was invited to write about one specific item or items that meant an awful lot to me, and so obviously I wrote about movies.  It's kinda similar to the article I recently wrote detailing my most influential films but I thought I'd post it anyway to get me back into the swing of posting online reviews again.

I love film.  J'adore film.  I have ever since I was a nipper, and since going to the local cinema was an event that simply could not be beaten, I decided that I would keep a record of what films I have seen. Since the early noughties, I have kept them in a little keepsake-tin that houses stubs from multiplexes, art-house cinemas and drive-in theatres (as well as the occasional stand-up comedy/music gig). Feel free to judge and count it as a little obsessive, I openly admit that it can be seen like that. But when I reopen the little box of stubs, I'm reminded about heart-warming trips to the cinema with my family for birthday outings, nerdy midnight screenings with my best mates and ultimately disappointing nights out spent with potential girlfriends. Maybe not all fun memories, but nostalgia is nostalgia.

The earliest stub I can find is from all the way back in November 2001, when I attended the opening weekend of the first Harry Potter film, Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone.  Or Sorceror's Stone if you're from America.  I arrived quite late with a large group of fellow thirteen-year olds and therefore had to sit right on the front row of the auditorium. We were so excited to see the first adaptation of our favourite book that a few friends even brought their Harry Potter toy wizard wands, which was obviously envied by the cinema usher, who was dressed like the boy-wizard himself. Little did I know that as I mocked this grown man for being dressed as a magical child, ten years later I would be in the exact same job, dressed as the exact same boy wizard for the Potter finale, the incredibly long-winded Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part Two (in 3D).

Despite only managing to find four stubs from the eight Potter films I have seen in the cinema, each one brings back a slew of memories about where and why I went to watch them.

One example that sticks in my mind was during the second Potter film, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets. Just as Harry and Ron take to the skies in Mr Weasley's flying car, I asked my date if she was enjoying the film so far. She turned to me with a very confused face and asked “What the hell is going on?!” It was then revealed to me that the girl had not seen the first film, read any of the books or even heard of Harry Potter, which gave fourteen year old Mike a bit of a headache.

Whilst our relationship might not have worked out, my love of film only had to wait until later that year to fully blossom with the release of the first Lord of the Rings film, The Fellowship of the Ring. The beginning instalment to the trilogy was such as awe-inspiring epic, I was completely bowled over. It was the first time that all my imagination was taken to a whole new world and I couldn't get enough of it. I must have seen Fellowship around five times, always ending in disappointment when the end credits began to roll. I just wanted it to continue. I couldn't wait until The Two Towers was released, only to experience the same thing all over again. It baffled me to wonder how the trilogy would finish. As The Return of the King was released in late December 2003 and my anticipation was at an all-time high.

And I was not disappointed.

High and lows; thrills and chills; horses and oliphaunts; Dark Lords and Wizards; Eagles and Hobbits. I was in Nerd Heaven. This was the first real 'movie experience' where all my senses were engaged and overwhelmed, resulting in The Return of the King shooting straight to the top of my personal Top Ten. Even though it may have it 's detractors, the film could do no wrong in my eyes and I watched it a further two times, including once when it was re-released in December of 2004.

My interest in cinema seemed to be at it's peak and it propelled me to undertake Film Studies in college. Although, there were some days that film stole me away from college. One such instance took place in June 2005, when a fellow Theatre Studies student and I decided to skip our afternoon lessons pretending to be trees and go and see a back-to-back matinee of The League of Gentlemen's Apocalypse and Sin City instead.

We arrived at the Odeon fresh-faced and clearly excited to be skipping college and see two highly-anticipated films instead. Although we nearly didn't purchase the tickets to the second feature. On exiting Apocalypse, both us 17 year olds attempted to buy tickets to the 18-rated Sin City. After my friend bought his ticket, I approached the counter and tried to get student discount with my college ID card. However since the ID showed my true date of birth, my friend quickly stopped me from producing it. When I realised how I almost proved my ineligibility, I gladly paid for the full adult price and I was treated to a glorious world of black and white, comic-book violence.

When I did attend my college Film Studies lessons, I occasionally learnt some stuff. During one particular lesson, our tutor began to teach us about film criticism. I was asked to critique a film I had recently seen in the cinema and luckily for me, the most recent film I had watched was Michael Bay's The Island.

I had to review the film in the style of a newspaper journalist and I couldn't help but enjoy myself as I attempted to tear this film apart in my criticism. Some choice quotes were “What is the point of Scarlett Johansson in this film apart from looking pretty and being helpless?!” and “There was so much product placement, I felt like I was watching a two-hour Michael Bay advert for Xbox and Puma!” Hardly Wordsworth I know, but I loved the freedom this gave me to de-construct the film and point out it's few highlights and many problems. As well as film criticism, the Film Studies course also taught me how to properly construct a film script and for a while, this took up my attention, as I foolishly thought that I could attempt at being an amateur screenwriter. However, the film criticism was always at the back of my mind.

The screen-writing interest took me to the University of Leeds, where I, again, studied Cinema. However my girlfriend studied at the University of Falmouth down in Cornwall and the three years of University consisted of several trips down to the South of England for me, and various Leeds visits for her. On one such trip to Falmouth, we decided to visit a local independent cinema to see a film about which I had heard good reviews. The film was a romantic comedy called Away We Go, and my girlfriend was instantly sold on it starring The US Office's John Krasinski (one of her Top Five at the time). Despite her attention being drawn to Krasinski throughout, we both adored the film and loved the relationship of the main two stars. It has since become one of our shared favourite films and the ticket always reminds me of the rough three years we had to endure at separate ends of the country and how much it was all worth it.

Whilst I was still at University, I managed to live in student accommodation on the same road as Hyde Park Picture House. I adored being only a few doors down from such a magnificently-preserved old-school cinema like the Picture House. Around this time, I started working at the Vue cinema chain in Leeds City Centre and was I slowly losing my faith in Hollywood with constantly witnessing huge audiences pay money to see the latest factory-made sequel or remake, shipped in from America. However, whenever I needed to be reminded of how magical and wonderful some films could be, I could just visit the Hyde Park Picture House. Not only did I visit the cinema in my spare time, but as part of my course, my fellow students and I often visited in groups to watch course-relavent films. These varied from Japanese animé Akira to Kubrick's seminal war film Dr. Strangelove, but one experience that sticks in my mind would be seeing the film that most critics would call “The Greatest of All Time”, Citizen Kane.

If one film could justify my often-queried choice of studying film at University, it would be Orson Welles' masterpiece of cinema, Citizen Kane. Of course I had seen the film before going to University, but nothing could beat seeing Charles Foster Kane destroy his mansion and his diamond reputation on the screen of Hyde Park Picture House. All the features I had overlooked, such as the film's powerful score and the majesty of the it's cinematography could finally be appreciated when projected on the big screen and I achieved a whole new respect for the film. It still stands as one of my favourite cinema experiences and it will take something very impressive to make me forget it.

After my graduation from University, I continued working for the cinema as a projectionist, enduring the 3D film resurgence and the rise of digital film. This culminated with the introduction of digital projectors at my cinema and the death of projection, but my feelings on that matter are for another blog post. However, something that is relevant to this post is the last ticket stub I kept from a 35mm print film.

Unfortunately I didn't watch a film such as The Dark Knight Rises or The Life of Pi but romantic-comedy, The Vow. Not my ideal choice, but schedules were interrupted and I didn't get to watch another film before the digital age began at my workplace. The film completely surprised me, as I was actually won over by it's premise, stars and emotion. But despite the film's heart-tugging qualities, the only sadness I will recall is at the death of 35mm film and the art of projection. Mock me all you want, but I remain solid in the opinion that projection and the creation of physical film was intricate, pain-staking stuff and I feel truly proud to say I have been employed as a projectionist during my time working at that cinema. But, the times; they are a-changin'.

My love of film will hopefully take me down some exciting roads in the years to come, hopefully with me giving my opinions on the current Hollywood blockbuster or obscure French art film to eager readers. However, it has been the years past that have gotten me where I am today, and I cannot be grateful enough to those bored friends who sat with me through Chinese martial art films, the film teachers who recommended the latest independent British release or my father who sat me down with a tub of popcorn, showed me Toy Story at the Blackpool Odeon and started the love of my precious pastime.