WEDNESDAY, January 29, 2014. Sun Newspapers 19

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DiCaprio delights indecadent depravity

Leonardo DiCaprio excels in his role as Jordan Belfort.

By LEIGH PAATSCH

TheWolf of Wall Street [R18+] Director:Martin Scorsese (The Departed) Starring:Leonardo DiCaprio, Jonah Hill, Kyle Chandler,Margot Robbie, Rob Reiner

A scene of excess from The Wolf of Wall Street.

A MORALITY tale The Wolf Of

Wall Street most certainly is not.An immorality tale? That’s muchmore like it.

The movie marks a welcomereturn by legendary directorMartin Scorsese to the scorched-earth brand of filmmaking withwhich he made his name.

At the age of 71, Scorsese hasrelit the bonfire in his belly andforged a work as unrepentant asGoodfellas, as unrelenting asRaging Bull, and as unforgettableas any of his best.

This is the true story of JordanBelfort (played by LeonardoDiCaprio), the man who put the‘broke' in stockbroker. By hismid-20s, this pirate in a pinstripesuit had amassed a personalfortune of over $50 million.

How? By plundering the lifesavings of any sucker not smartenough to get off the phonewhen one of his army of hard-sellhucksters came a-calling.

Belfort and his team wouldpush worthless ‘‘penny stocks’’on inexperienced investors,pocketing an extravagantcommission whether the sharesrose or fell.

And most of them did indeedsink like a stone. Not that Belfortcared, he was too busy living thehigh life.

There was the mansion with itsown postcode, the boat with itsown helipad, the dodgy dealsthat never failed and the dirtyparties that never ended.

Yes, Jordan Belfort seeminglyhad it made. However, there wasjust one chink in his money-magnetising armour. JordanBelfort got too high living thathigh life.

An insatiable appetite for anysubstance that could send himup, down or sideways boughtBelfort a one-way ticket to ruin.

The self-made man graduallybecame a self-made monster. Soit was just a matter of time beforehe would self-destruct.

In adapting a best-selling book,penned by Belfort himself,Scorsese and screenwriterTerence Winter took theunorthodox step of interpretingthis scurrilous saga as impureblack comedy, as opposed topure drama.

On this level, The Wolf Of Wall

Street has more in common withfilms such as Scarface andAmerican Psycho thanScorsese’s own illustrious backcatalogue.

Filtered through anastonishing, abrasively nuancedperformance from DiCaprio, The

Wolf Of Wall Street follows ademented urge to be in yourface, up your nose and on yournerves at all times.

Scenes of Belfort and hisextended entourage losingthemselves in a blizzard ofcocaine and hookers are inplentiful supply.

It takes a lot these days for aproduction to warrant beingwhacked with an R18+ rating,and The Wolf Of Wall Street

aggressively enters this zone withno intention of turning back.

Understandably, the film hascopped considerable heat insome quarters for glorifyingBelfort’s badness at the expenseof any rigorous analysis of thehavoc he so happily wrought.

Shouldn’t the story of a manwho took so many people for aride be more concerned with theman than the ride?

Scorsese and DiCaprio evadea guilty verdict through theconsistent deployment of sheercinematic panache.

An equally uninhibited supportcast, spearheaded by Jonah Hill(as Belfort’s creepy firstlieutenant), Kyle Chandler(Belfort’s arch-enemy at the FBI)and Australia’s Margot Robbie (abreakout display as Belfort’strophy wife) ensures the anarchicmomentum never drops inintensity.

Though it is impossible todetect anything resembling aheart or a conscience in Belfort’stale, the film that tells it remains

alive, alert and alarmingthroughout a mammoththree hours.

As much a complete

experience as it is a work ofdiverting entertainment, The Wolf

Of Wall Street is nothing short ofa howling success.