The Wolf of Wall Street.

Leonardo DiCaprio is the Wolf of Wall Street

I find it quite strange at times when people walk out of a cinema part way through a screening, don’t people consult the trailer or read the reviews in the weekend papers which in my opinion spelt out its ‘moral ambiguity, sexual content, presence of drugs, vulgarity, and use of animals’[1]. You must get a good idea from these sources, so why are people shocked enough to walk after paying good money to see a film?

 

Jonah Hill is the Wolfs co conspirator. 

The film I refer to is an American black comedy directed by Martin Scorsese that was nominated for five Academy Awards This is the second American main stream film that raises my appreciation of the films coming out of the USA at present, the first was American Hustle (2013) and this latest one is The Wolf of Wall Street (2013). The film is based on the memoirs of Jordan Belfort, a New York stockbroker who set up the brokerage film Stratton Oakmont that engaged in securities fraud and corruption on Wall Street in the 1990’s. The film wastes no time in setting out its stall when the main character states the following. “The year I turned 26, I made 49 million dollars, which really pissed me off because it was three shy of a million a week” We witness Belfort’s rise from middle class obscurity to someone who accumulated obscene amount of money. If the film is true to the story then Mr Belfort and his partner spent their money, or should I say other people’s money on big houses, fast cars, drugs and prostitutes and oh yes dwarf throwing parties!

Margot Robbie is the Wolfs wife.

Matthew McConaughey is the Wolfs mentor. 

This is a supercharged movie with a supercharged performance by Leonardo DiCaprio as Belfort, and a stand out one from Jonah Hill as Donnie Azoff, Belfort’s co conspirator. Terence Winters screenplay is outrageous and downright politically incorrect and you have to realise that this is not a movie that sets out to attack the capitalist money grabbing society, but that does not stop this movie being incredibly funny and entertaining.

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[1] The Huffington Post December 2013

Moneyball.

When I started watching Moneyball (2011) I knew nothing about the game of baseball, when I’d finished watching Bennett Miller’s film I didn’t knew much more. But that’s not important as watching this movie demands little knowledge of the game because the story is really about what goes on behind the scenes, its business ethics and the wheeling and dealing to enable a club to be successful and thereby rack in pots of money.

The film is based on a 2003 book of the same name by non-fiction and financial journalist Michael Lewis adapted by Steven Zaillian, who won an Academy Award for his screenplay for Schindlers List (1993), and Aaron Sorkin, who won an Academy Award for the Best Adapted Screenplay for The Social Network (2010). This biographical sports drama was nominated for six Academy Awards one of which was Best Actor for Brad Pitt who plays Billy Beane a former Major League Baseball player who became the general manager of the Oakland Athletics after a promising playing career failed. The A’s, as the club is known, could not compete with the bigger and richer clubs in their league. Beane along with the Yale academic and economist Peter Brand (Jonah Hill) decided on a new approach that would allow them to build a winning team and to amass points without spending money they did not have. 

Brad Pitt and Jonah Hill.

Although a little long at 133 minutes I thoroughly enjoyed this film, it has an engaging story line that’s backed up by some compelling acting from all involved, including Philip Seymour Hoffman, who has a fairly small part as the team manager. This is an American sports film that is both intelligent and relevant to sporting finance in most other countries, including one of Scotland’s premiere football clubs. 

A rather rotund Philip Seymour Hoffman.