2013 wolf movie
Rating: 18/20 (Jen: 17/20)
Plot: Based, one would think loosely, on the sinful tale of greed, obsession, drugs, infidelity, fraud, and etc. of Jordan Belfort, a stockbroker who rose to riches unscrupulously and tried his best to keep from bursting.
How many 2013 Best Picture nominees are based on true stories? Is it above the average or about the same? I realize that I could easily research this and that it's probably my job as a guy who writes half-assed blog posts about movies, but I really don't feel like doing it. I liked this movie, exhilarating from beginning to end, a lot, and Jen says it's because it's a guy movie, that I only liked it because I like boobs and butts. That's true. I'm a fan of both boobs and butts. But I also liked Jonah Hill's performance as Leo's smarmy associate and what will likely be the funniest masturbation scene I see all year, more glasses as props, the accent, enough cause for me to stop disliking the guy and just dislike most of his choices in roles he's going to take; Leo himself, amazing as another larger-than-life character played by an actor not afraid of dents in his image as evidenced by several sequences in this movie including one where he's goofy on Quaaludes, a scene that has to be seen to be believed; Margot Robbie, woman with two first names who is simply a revelation here and destined for big, big things, and yes, I realize she's got both boobs and a butt, both displayed here wonderfully, but she's nearly half my age and I was more impressed with her New York accent anyway, or maybe it was her cheekbones; the tossing of little people at targets and a long discussion about utilizing little people, but that tossing scene where I knew right away that I was watching something audacious and that my laughter and attempts to high-five myself likely punched my ticket for a Willy Wonka-esque ferry ride to hell or something; Matthew McConaughey, God bless him, and his neck and his manic-ness and the little humming, chest-thumping thing he's not embarrassed at all to do; the sneaky critique of the American dream, American greed, American hedonism, American excess, how you can criticize the snorting of cocaine from prostitute's cracks or the marching band or infidelity or drugs drugs drugs all you want but those are the very things this country was founded upon if you take the time to skim random pages from a Thomas Jefferson biography or two; back to Margot Robbie because I have to mention the scene where her character shows her body to DiCaprio and how I couldn't help but ooh and aah whilst in the presence of my wife which probably explains her comment RE: boobs and butts; moral and resolution indetermination with subway breaths and ink pen sales attempts with respectively Kyle Chandler's slouching and Leo's perfect teeth; just the sheer amount of people in this thing, me wondering how there's even any room for cameras to squeeze in some of these rooms; the unapologetic redundancy of imagery here, Leo's grinning voice-over mocking everything you think you believe in while visual after visual featuring varying degrees of debauchery, unapologetic debauchery, debauchery which hammers you on the head and reminds you, "Better check to make sure your pants are zipped up, young man, before you even touch the doorknob--get yourself some habits and stick with them like they're your religion!" and then announces that it doesn't care if you just saw the same thing five minutes ago and threatens to show the exact same thing to you again in another five minutes; the titular wolf and his thrustings and gesticulations cause the king of the world can do that sort of thing and get away with it; the way this pops off the screen, aurally and visually, a movie that throbs in your living room and I imagine in movie theaters; every minute of all three hours, the length usually the first thing I'd gripe about and complain that I didn't get a Gone with the Wind or Ten Commandments intermission as I sat in a pool of my own warm but cooling urine but not regretting it at all because I wouldn't have wanted to miss anything, just maybe the highest compliment--the piss test?--a person can give a movie like this; the questions this raises, abstractly and surreptitiously because if you blink, you're going to miss the point, but there are definitely questions about who the real villain is in this whole thing--Jordan Belfort and his motley crew or the people ignorant enough to let Jordan Belfort happen, Martin Scorsese, at this stage in his career and at the age of 70-something who can make movies as vibrant and daring as this even with those glasses of his, and a reminder that I probably need to give Gangs of New York some Oprah Movie Club love and watch Shutter Island which I never bothered seeing despite thinking everything else Martin Scorsese has made the past however many years he's made things is wonderful and how I can finally understand what John S. Hall meant when he sang that King Missile song about wanting to chew his fuckin' lips off and grab his head and suck out one of his eyes because that's exactly how I feel; flavor flavor flavor. . .and decadence!; the wildest ride, one that I can't imagine anybody being bored even though a friend of mine told me that she was bored by the thing but it might be because she doesn't like boobs or butts; one of the most interesting and eclectic soundtracks you will ever hear, "Sloop John B" nudging up against Mingus's bass, Cypress Hill prancing around Sousa's grave, Romeo Void and Eartha Kitt and Devo. Man, this three hours goes down so good. It's Boogie Nights for the 20-teens, A Clockwork Orange for people who suffering from a bowler phobia, one of the most American films you will ever see. And, boobs and butts, goldfish and prosthetic penises, drug trips and platters of lunch meat, helicopter crashes and shaved heads, little people tossing and raging. So vibrant, so electric, so funny--this bad boy of a Best Picture nominee shimmers like no other movie I can remember seeing recently. I loved it.
I don't feel that proofreading would make a difference this time, and I refuse to do it. My guess is that it's flawless writing anyway.
3 comments:
I'm totally biased as a Scorsese mega-fan, but this was another triumph by the 70 some-odd-year-old director. The scene where Margot Robbie tempts DiCaprio on the pink carpet (surely the same color of whatever she was showing off) in the their baby's nursery is both delicious and heart-pounding. To think that an aged man like Scorsese, in his twilight years, is able to recall thoughts of his youth (or experiences for that matter) and summon such a vivid scene is why he's still the master.
I never had an issue with Jonah Hill as you have, and, too, loved his performance. I see him putting a large part of himself in most of his roles, so the Oscar noms may start to slow down (I hope they don't...I get a kick out of his work). I thought his Long Island accent and the purposeful appearance he had really added to the substance of this movie.
I liked Rob Reiner's character in this as well. As the voice of reason, he still didn't have to play the straight man and lights up his scenes. The rest of the cast all did their parts justice, too. I read that the script was actually pretty thin considering this was a 3hr long movie. Scorsese and the screenwriter pushed for a lot of improvisation. This makes sense when tense scenes like Jonah Hill taunting Jon Bernthal rolls around. You can hear the actors taking control of the scene in more ways than one.
I think most people would be done with this movie 2 hrs in, but there is so much to take in! Aside from the palpable story and images happening right in front of you, there's the give-it-your-all acting, the billowing sets and staging, and the very reason why I'm a Scorsese Stormtrooper: the editing and camera treatment. Nobody can effortlessly move a camera through a scene like Scorsese. The tracking shots are his signature, and while some may say he's been there and needs to learn a new trick, I say why fix something that isn't broke? You saw its innovation in Mean Streets, you applauded it in Taxi Driver, you raved about it in Goodfellas, you gave him an Oscar for it in The Departed, why complain about it now? Scorsese does Scorsese in this film.
I'm kind of amazed that Jennifer gave this such a high grade since it seems like much more of a guy's movie. This movie is so much fun. The dialogue and situations are hilarious, and Scorcese is in top form. A 17, but that could go up.
She kept saying, "This is such a guy movie" and seemed to hate it. I'm confused by some of her ratings sometimes.
I'm still missing a couple 2013 Best Picture nominations, but this one might be my favorite.
Post a Comment