“The Wolf of Wall Street” goes far into Wall Street corruption in this true story of billionaire Jordan Belfort played by Leonardo DiCaprio.  Belfort, a young aspiring stockbroker hopes to rise to the top and make all the money he can, but he is under the impression that he will be able to do so honestly. However, while employed under Mark Hanna (Matthew McConaughey) he soon realizes there is nothing honest about Wall Street.

Belfort is laid off in a short recession and comes upon the realization that he would make all the money in the world if he opened up his own stock brokerage. He hires his rag tag, used car salesmen friends to head the company with him.  While teaching his friends the ins and outs of the stock trade his greed becomes unquenchable and in a rampage of white-collar crime, Belfort rises to the top.

“The Wolf of Wall Street” displays the corruption and methods brokers would use to earn their millions.  The methods include embezzlement, defrauding investors and many other schemes.  The movie also takes an in-depth look at Jordan Belfort’s life and the abuse of drugs, alcohol and women.

DiCaprio who played as Belfort did a tremendous job. DiCaprio makes clear emotional changes while depicting his character.  He pulled of the money crazed, drug addicted, Wall Street Wolf beautifully with the emotional changes. It almost feels like you’re looking at a real life white collar criminal whose only care in the world is drugs and money.

Another character who did a surprisingly great job was Jonah Hill portraying the character Donnie Azoff Belfort’s number two.  Hill did such a great job because he sold his part as the sleazy number two guy who would always end up in trouble. He too also sold the emotions and actions of his character.

The plot of the movie was clear from the beginning; it follows the biography of Jordan Belfort who ran one of the biggest Wall Street scams in the 80s and 90s. However, the plot may have been dramatized. Many times in the movie, hardcore substance abuse and sexual content was explicitly portrayed . Initially some scenes in the movie were so graphic they had to be edited to receive only an R rating. This very explicit content in almost every scene is what many people are complaining about.

Despite the rating, the film’s plot was outstanding. It made you think about what really went on in Wall Street in the 80s. The best part was the suspense that kept  building. The plot at first doesn’t really explain what crimes are taking place, but eventually the viewer finds out and wonders when he will face the consequences. It soon becomes a race for Belfort to evade the Federal Government. The movie leaves with the lesson that there are no friends on Wall Street.

Director Martin Scrosese is known for very violent, long and explicit movies. It is obvious that he directed this movie due to the explicit scenes and the length of the movie. This movie’s primary failure is due to the controversy of how graphic it was, and has had a negative effect on its ratings. Despite the very provocative scenes the movie was nominated for five academy awards including Best Actor in a Leading Role (Leonardo DiCaprio), Best Actor in a Supporting Role (Jonah Hill), Best Achievement in Directing (Martin Scrosese), Best Writing and Best Motion Picture of the Year.

Due to a brilliant plot line, amazing acting and good cinematography as the movie was not just set in New York but various places in Europe I would give the film an A- due to the very explicit content, and the fact that it was three hours long and in some cases was repetitive.

I would recommend seeing this movie in the theater, but it is not suitable for any children as it is extremely explicit and pushes the limit for even an R rating.