Having worked in the financial services sector in India for
a few years, this movie was a little more obvious to me than it would be to
most people.
To classify it into a genre would be a tad difficult, it is
a sort of dark humour but brings melancholic thoughts every now and then, more
so towards the end of the movie. It certainly is a biography based on the life of Jordan Belfort.
The movie features the rise and fall of a stock broker in
Wall Street, but not just any stock broker. A very shrewed, selfish and smart
broker who knows and banks on his strengths – good sales skills and smooth
talking.
After starting at a brokerage firm as a freshman, the life
at Wall Street is introduced to Jordan and takes him by surprise. Focusing on
your needs rather than those of your client seems to be the name of the game as
per his boss and mentor Mark Hanna.
A world of drugs, abuse and sleaze soon
takes over Jordan. And after getting fired from his first job due to the market
crash, he joins a small brokerage firm and is introduced to the world of penny
stocks, which are unknown companies having little value but high brokerages.
Greed takes over Jordan and soon he realizes the potential for money making in
this line. As his wealth grows, his interest in making wealth for his client’s
diminishes proportionately.
Soon Jordan starts his own brokerage firm with a new found
friend named Donnie. The small firm operates out of a small office cum garage
and employs people who have no idea of stocks, but can make a sale. With
guidance from Jordan, the firm soon begins to do well and is christened
“Stratton Oakmont Inc”.
Quickly, the brokers learn the tricks of the trade and
start making good money as their client base grows. The firm grows in size and
constantly starts employing more and more staff and moving to bigger office
spaces.
The big break comes when Forbes magazine decides to do an
article on Stratton Oakmont. Though the article projects Jordan in bad light,
the publicity ensures he is a well known name and as more magazines approach
him, his popularity grows quickly.
With growth in his wealth, the feeling of being all too
powerful takes over Jordan’s senses completely. He is now a drug and sex addict
and feels anything can be bought with money. His material assets grow as his
morality and decency decline, he even divorces his supportive wife in order to
be with a gorgeous woman he met at a party.
The work culture that Jordan imbibes in his company is
reflective of his personal being and he calls it a wolf pit. A pit of greed,
drugs, sleeze and corruption.
En route to his growth, Jordan develops a complete disregard
to laws and is soon under the eyes of FBI. Even the manner in which he deals
with the FBI shows his cocky attitude and Jordan is forced to flee to Europe to
hide his illegal wealth in Swiss bank accounts.
The natural curve sets in and Jordan’s decline kicks in with
his personal life and health taking a complete trashing. He is a major drug
addict now whose personal life is miserable and he is constantly on the run
from the law. Eventually it all catches up with him and he has to leave his
dream behind, and after serving 3 years in prison Jordan ends up being a
motivational speaker at sales seminars.
The combination of Martin Scorsese and Leonardo which has
given us some wonderful movies in the past, doesn’t disappoint again. Leonardo
plays the part of the broker to the hilt and his performance is near flawless.
The rest of the cast also shine in their respective roles and the story keeps
you occupied as you watch Jordan fall deeper into the pit he digs for himself.
The movie though is a tad too long at a runtime of nearly 3
hours and some tight editing could have made the movie much more crisp. Do not
watch this movie with family due to the language and sex based content in the
movie.
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