Once critics and audiences actually saw the film, however, the conversation shifted dramatically. And rewriting pre-release narratives like that is never easy, especially in an awards-season already so crowded with contenders that Scorsese’s three-hour behemoth felt like choking down a big baked potato immediately after a rich dinner. Beyond that, the fact that Scorsese and Schoonmaker were rushing just to finish the film suggested a theme that was borne out later in some reviews: that it was flabby, undisciplined, badly paced, too long. But such a move for The Wolf Of Wall Street-which essentially reconfigures Scorsese’s mob epics like GoodFellas and Casino for the financial sector-would show a devastating lack of confidence on Paramount’s part. There was a sigh of relief in Scorsese-land over that, since fans had also seen Shutter Island bumped from fall to the hinterlands of the following February-a bad omen that turned out to be a savvy move, since Shutter Island wasn’t going to win any awards for its lurid horror, and it wasn’t going to have any serious competition on opening weekend. Two weeks later, those rumors were hushed by the news that the film would make 2013 after all, but on Christmas Day instead of November 15, and that Scorsese and his editor, Thelma Schoonmaker, would have until November 25 to deliver a completed cut. In late September, there was speculation that The Wolf Of Wall Street would not be ready for 2013 and might slip into 2014, leaving Paramount to slot Anchorman 2 and Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit for the holiday season. With an original release date set for mid-November 2013, the film fell behind in the editing, and the finished cut had to deal with the threat of an NC-17 rating, which would require further nipping and tucking. The trailer pitched the rogue seductions of Belfort’s world-and Scorsese’s movie-as an orgy of conspicuous consumption: Fast cars, easy money, big houses, available women, and lots of drugs, all sins consequence-free.īehind the scenes, however, there were signs of distress that filtered through the entertainment press. When DiCaprio’s Belfort narrates, “The year I turned 26, I made $49 million, which really pissed me off because it was three shy of a million a week,” West’s emphatic scream is there as an exclamation point, and the screams are there again to support the “wolf pit” mentality of the floor at Belfort’s Stratton Oakmont firm, which often breaks down into chest-thumping capitalist pep rallies. Riding the cultural zeitgeist, the exhilarating first trailer was set to Kanye West’s hyper-aggressive single “Black Skinhead,” which has little lyrically in common with the film, but got the vibe of it just right. Much like Jordan Belfort himself, The Wolf Of Wall Street came to theaters with a swagger and ostentatiousness that covered signs of rot under the foundation. But as a highly detailed portrait of true-life corruption and bad behavior in the financial sector, Wolf is pushy and hollow, too much of a bad thing, like a three-hour cold call from the boiler room that leaves you wondering, ‘What have I just been sold?’” -Stephanie Zacharek, Village Voice “There are hints of greatness, one or two artfully constructed scenes that remind you why you look forward to new Scorsese films in the first place. “Belfort’s riches-to-slightly-less-riches tale has been brought to the screen by no less a connoisseur of charismatic sociopaths than Martin Scorsese, and the result is a big, unruly bacchanal of a movie that huffs and puffs and nearly blows its own house down, but holds together by sheer virtue of its furious filmmaking energy and a Leonardo DiCaprio star turn so electric it could wake the dead.” -Scott Foundas, Variety This movie may tire you out with its hammering, swaggering excess, but it is never less than wide-awake.” -A.O. Even the occasional lapses of filmmaking technique (scenes that drag on too long, shots that don’t match, noticeable continuity glitches) feel like signs of life. GoodFellas, a sprawling inquiry into how some men do business, is an obvious precedent, and so is Mean Streets, an intensive study of how some men get into trouble. Scorsese has thrown himself into filmmaking with this kind of exuberance.
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