Out of work, Jordan’s drive leads him to a small firm that deals in penny stocks and pays a hefty 50% commission. He impresses his coworkers and earns a small fortune. Soon, joined by his neighbor Donnie Azoff (Jonah Hill) he starts his own penny stock boiler room. It’s not long before the business becomes Stratton Oakmont, with the unwavering goal of selling wealthy clients blue chip stocks, gaining their trust with solid returns, then pushing the lower priced and higher commissioned penny stocks. The more successful Jordan becomes, the crazier his life is: countless hookers, fast cars, drugs, booze a huge estate on the Gold Coast of Long Island, and a trophy wife. He begins to feel untouchable, even as FBI agent Patrick Denham (Kyle Chandler) begins investigating Jordan and his business practices.
Throughout his career, Martin Scorsese has done a great job of showing the rise and fall of various people. The Wolf of Wall Street is no different. As the story begins, Jordan Belfort’s rise is fueled by his desire to be rich. Eventually, that desire is overtaken by his need for drugs, booze and sex, leading to his downfall. Jordan begins by telling his story via voiceover and evolves into a breaking-the-4th-wall sequence where he speaks to the audience; something that Scorsese is known for doing, and a technique that is used repeatedly here. Most of these sequences find Jordan actually doubting or belittling himself. In some ways these brief glimpses of Belfort tell us more about him them endless scenes of debauchery ever could.
Matthew McConaughey appears in only a few brief scenes, but manages to leave quite an impression. In a restaurant scene, where he has a discussion with DiCaprio’s character about stockbrokers not knowing what they’re doing, and preaches the virtues of masturbating twice a day, his hyper, engaging personality gets the film off to a great start. Jonah Hill is almost androgynous in his role as Donnie. With his perfect, pearly white teeth, interesting fashion sense, and willingness to divulge his marriage to a first cousin. Hill’s chemistry with Dicaprio and others in the cast is spot on, and given this, and his performance in 2011’s Moneyball, he’s quickly becoming one of the more interesting actors working in Hollywood today. Leonardo Dicaprio continues to show that he has successfully made the transition from teen heartthrob to serious adult actor. His natural screen presence is obvious, and his development of the character, from a young money hungry neophyte, to a jaded, drug addled turncoat forced to rat out his ‘friends,’ is perhaps the actors best role to date.
Presented in the 2.40:1 aspect ratio, Paramount has provided an excellent 1080p transfer. Colors are well saturated throughout, offering vividness and depth. The image is solid, sporting a nice level of detail and sharpness. The image does appear slightly warm at times, resulting in some reddish flesh tones. Thankfully, this only lasts a few minutes of the films nearly three hour runtime. Black levels are deep, and contrast appears fairly even. There are no digital anomalies to speak of.
The Wolf of Wall Street‘s DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 lossless soundtrack is just as impressive. Precise and clear to a fault, the track provides a truly immersive experience. Whether it’s a big party scene, an office rally, or crashing waves, the viewer feels like they’re right in the middle of things. The track isn’t particularly aggressive, because it isn’t required to be. However, it delivers what it’s supposed to. Dialogue is clean and clear throughout.
English, English SDH, French, and Spanish subtitles are included.
The following extras are available:
- The Wolf Pack (HD, 17:01) A look at Martin Scorsese’s take on the story, Jordan Belfort’s life, and the actor’s portrayals. Leonardo DiCaprio, Jonah Hill and other members of the cast and crew off their thoughts.
- DVD of the movie.
- Ultra Violet/iTunes Digital Copy.
