The Wolf of Wall Street Review

Grade: B
One-Liner: Wolfie, Wolfie, Wolfie!

My love for Leonardo DiCaprio spans back to age 7, when I was far too young to be watching Titanic in theaters, but so grateful I did. However, I never thought that his best performance to date would involve snorting cocaine out of a stripper's butt crack. Not only was that not the worst of his offenses playing Wall Street savage Jordan Belfort in Martin Scorsese's The Wolf of Wall Street, but it happened in the first five minutes of the three-hour raunch fest.

Jordan's tale, which is based on the book written by the actual Wolf, features more drug use, objectification of women, and moral corruption than I've ever experienced in the theater (or outside it, for that matter), but if you can put your ethical objections aside, it can be a delightful in its sickness, impressive in its acting, and hilarious in its filth.

The full 180 minutes could definitely have been cut short, especially towards the middle where it seemed the only point was to mold, solidify, and set the idea that Jordan Belfort was a disgusting human being who had no limits. But in a tale of excess, it makes sense that the narrator, who has a fairly high opinion of himself, would ramble on.

When Jordan addressed his company of loyal, debaucherous followers, he always rose up like a modern day, wasted Citizen Kane. He built his empire and lorded over it, unable to let it go even when the Feds were threatening to take it all away.

But Leo's most noteworthy moment was one particularly memorable scene 2/3 of the way through the film when he took special quaaludes and made full use of his physicality and drooling abilities to land a spot on the Oscar ballot.

DiCaprio wasn't the only one with a standout performance in Wolf. Matthew McConaughey's exceptional cameo as Jordan's chanting, cocaine snorting mentor Mark Hanna left me wanting more, and Jonah Hill as Jordan's raucous partner in crime Donnie Azoff provided the majority of the film's humor.

The Wolf of Wall Street is certainly a worthy Oscar contender this season, and worth a viewing ... as long as you don't go with your parents.