The Wolf of Wall Street [2013]

EMM# : 30348
Added: 2014-12-16

The Wolf of Wall Street (2013)
Earn. Spend. Party.

Rating: 8.3

Movie Details:

Genre: Biography (Comedy| Crime| Drama)

Length: 3 h 0 min - 180 min

Video: 1920x800 (23.976 Fps - 1 554 Kbps)

Studio: Paramount Pictures| Red Granite Pictures| Appian W...(cut)

Location:

MOVIE TRAILER WEBLINK

Actors:

Director:

Complete Cast:

Plot
Comments
Trivia
Goofs
Keywords
AKAs

In The Wolf of Wall Street DiCaprio plays Belfort, a Long Island penny stockbroker who served 36 months in prison for defrauding investors in a massive 1990s securities scam that involved widespread corruption on Wall Street and in the corporate banking world, including shoe designer Steve Madden. Written by

Plot Synopsis:
-------------------

The movie opens with a TV advertisement for Stratton Oakmont, Inc. It discusses the nature of Wall Street brokers, describing them as bulls or lions. A lion walks through one of the floors of the company.

We next see a large group of brokers playing a game where they throw little people onto a board with a dollar sign for a bulls-eye. Jordan Belfort (Leonardo DiCaprio) then introduces himself among those playing this game. He tells us that he is the son of two accountants living in Bayside, Queens. Ever since he started working on Wall Street, Jordan has enjoyed a life of endless drugs and countless hookers of his choosing. He is seen blowing cocaine into a hooker's butt, and then later flying a helicopter while hopped up on quaaludes. We also see him driving his Ferrari and getting a blowjob from a woman revealed to be his wife Naomi Lapaglia (Margot Robbie). According to Jordan, he does enough drugs to sedate the majority of New York's population. The one drug he loves the most, however, is the one that can make man conquer the world, and that is money. He snorts a line of coke with a $100 bill, crumples it up, and then tosses it in a wastebasket.

When he was 22 years old, Jordan began working on Wall Street while married to a woman named Teresa Petrillo (Cristin Milioti). He starts working as a broker and he meets his smooth-talking, easygoing boss Mark Hanna (Matthew McConaughey), along with another abrasive and foul-mouthed co-boss, Peter DeBlasio (Barry Rothbart). Jordan is astonished at how everybody talks and works. He has a drink with Mark, who is doing a rhythmic chant while pounding his chest. Mark orders enough martinis for them to "pass the fuck out". He asks Jordan how many times he jerks off: Jordan says about three or four times a week. Mark says those are rookie numbers and that he does it at least twice a day. He starts babbling to Jordan about how nobody knows if the stocks will go up, down, sideways, or whatever, and that it's all a "fugazi". Mark's primary reason for going into stocks was pretty much just for hookers and blow. He gets Jordan to join in the "Money Chant".

Jordan starts his first day with his broker's license on what happens to be October 19, 1987 - aka, Black Monday. The stocks around the world plummet, and Jordan loses his job. At home, Teresa suggests they pawn her wedding ring as he looks through the jobs section in the paper. He comes across one place in Long Island: Investor Center located in a small mini-shopping center.

Jordan shows up to Investor Center in a suit. The place is merely a small establishment that hardly looks professional. Jordan is greeted by Dwayne (Spike Jonze), the man who runs the place. He assigns Jordan to pitch a sale for a company called Aerotyne, a small company out of Dubuque, Iowa garage. Aerotyne is also a "pink sheet" (low value) stock and he will receive 50% of the commission. Jordan calls a potential investor about Aerotyne. He sells it to him as a huge company (we're treated to a pic that shows it looking no bigger than a tool shed), but the way he pitches it draws everybody's attention. Everybody in the office stops what they're doing to listen to Jordan, who makes a very slick but also very professional sales pitch. He succeeds in making the sale and his new coworkers are impressed.

After a few months, Jordan is making serious money. He is approached in a diner by a chubby bespectacled man with fluorescent white teeth named Donnie Azoff (Jonah Hill). He asks Jordan if the Jaguar outside is his car, to which Jordan says 'yes'. Donnie says he lives in the same apartment building as Jordan and mentions he works selling children's furniture. He asks Jordan how much money he makes, and Jordan says he made $72,000 the previous month. Not believing it, Donnie asks to see a pay stub for $72,000. Jordan pulls one out, and Donnie calls his boss to tell him he's quitting to go into stocks.

Jordan and Donnie have drinks at a bar. We learn that Donnie married his cousin because he didn't like the idea of anybody else trying to sleep with her. Outside, Donnie smokes some crack and offers some to Jordan. He takes one hit and gets pumped, telling Donnie they need to go running.

The two find a garage where they plan to set up a business. Jordan recruits some of his friends to join. They include Robbie Feinberg (Brian Sacca; nicknamed "Pinhead"), Alden Kupferberg (Henry Zebrowski; nicknamed "Sea Otter"), Chester Ming (Kenneth Choi), Nicky Koskoff (PJ Byrne; nicknamed "Rugrat" because of his shoddy toupee), and Brad (Jon Bernthal). Brad is especially well known for making drug sales in his old neighborhood. Jordan tells Brad to sell him a pen that he pulls out of his pocket. Brad tells him to write something on a napkin. Jordan says he doesn't have a pen, and Brad "sells" it to him. Jordan also brings along several guys from Investor Center, including a guy called Toby Welch (Ethan Suplee).

Jordan and Donnie set up what is basically a boiler room in the garage they find. The guys are all set up at desks, ready to make calls with a script that Jordan wrote for them. They start with blue chip stocks like Disney and AT&T. Jordan calls one investor to purchase stocks in Kodak. Jordan anticipates the deal by making crude sexual gestures to everyone just as the investor signs on. From there, Jordan creates Stratton Oakmont and forms it into a much larger business with even more brokers working for him. He has groups of ambitious and hopeful brokers clamoring in his office showing off their resumes to his face. As one Strattonite makes a sale, the whole floor celebrates, with a marching band and a big group of hookers. They even have one female employee get her head shaved if Jordan pays her $10,000 for her to use for breast implants.

Over the next few years, news of Stratton Oakmont's success gets around, from Forbes Magazine to the FBI, specifically Agent Patrick Denham (Kyle Chandler). Forbes does a piece on Jordan, calling him a "sleazy Robin Hood" and dubbing him "the Wolf of Wall Street." Jordan is at first angry about it, but Teresa tells him there's no such thing as bad publicity and more young and eager brokers flock to his office. They bring on Jordan's father, whom everyone refers to as "Mad Max" (Rob Reiner) due to his constantly irritated attitude. He oversees his son's accounts and berates him and his partners for spending $26,000 for a dinner, interrupting their chat about using the little people for their game (as seen earlier).

Jordan throws a party at his Long Island beachfront house where he announces a plan to take the company "into the FUCKING STRATOSPHERE!" He is about to explain to us the effects of quaaludes, but Donnie suddenly rises and slowly goes over to Jordan's table in slow motion to mumble "Steve Madden." Steve Madden, as Jordan notes, was the big name in women's shoes. Jordan then sees Naomi for the first time. He runs down to introduce himself, inviting her to join him on his jet ski. Donnie's wife Hildy (Mackenzie Meehan) sees this and tries to get Jordan away from Naomi by saying Teresa needs his help. Donnie then goes downstairs and starts masturbating to Naomi in front of the whole party.

Jordan takes Naomi out to dinner one night. When he takes her home, she invites him to her apartment for some tea. Jordan is extremely tempted by her, right before she steps out of her room fully nude. The two have sex for 11 seconds before Jordan tries to get it going again. He continues his affair with Naomi for a while before Teresa catches Jordan doing coke off her breasts in the back of a limo. She pulls Jordan out and starts smacking him. She tearfully asks him if he loves Naomi, but he doesn't reply. Narrating again in voice-over, Jordan says he felt bad about hurting Teresa... and then filed for divorce three days later.

Naomi moves into Jordan's apartment. She hires a decorator to redo the place to Jordan's liking, and she also hires a gay butler named Nicholas (Jon Spinogatti). Jordan likes him until the night that Naomi comes home to find that Nicholas is holding a gay orgy in the apartment. She goes crying to Jordan and tells him that $20,000 in cash is missing from their room as well as $30,000 worth of jewelry and other appliances. Jordan, Donnie, Chester, and Rugrat interrogate Nicholas about what he knows about the missing money. Nicholas refuses to answer questions (clearly protecting his gay friends) and quickly changes the subject by openly telling them that he thinks them questioning him is just gay prejudice. Chester punches him hard in the nose, and he and Donnie hold Nicholas by his legs over the balcony to try to make him confess. Jordan calls the cops, who arrest Nicholas for stealing, and kick his ass instead.

Jordan manages to recover the stolen cash through money laundering. Since he recognizes that these practices are illegal, he hires an attorney, Manny Riskin (Jov Favreau), to keep them clear. All Jordan cares is that he's making more money than he and anybody else can know what to do with.

Jordan proposes to Naomi with a yellow diamond ring. She accepts. He holds a bachelor party in Las Vegas, where even the plane ride consists of a lot of hookers, alcohol and a lot of cocaine. The wedding is also a pretty big event. Naomi introduces Jordan to her English Aunt Emma (Joanna Lumley), who is aware of Jordan's cocaine use. Jordan and Naomi move out of their New York penthouse and buy a large mansion on Long Island. He even buys Naomi a yacht as a wedding gift (it's also named Naomi).

18 months later, Jordan and Naomi have a daughter, Skyler. By this time, the couple is constantly bickering over Jordan's antics. He slept through the night calling the name "Venice". We see she is a hooker who pulled a lit candle out of Jordan's ass during sex and poured the hot wax on his back as he kept screaming "Wolfie" (his safety word). Jordan says this fighting is part of their routine, which ends with them getting intimate. When they put the baby to sleep, Naomi says she is wearing short skirts from now on and won't be wearing panties deliberately to tease Jordan. Jordan however, has his own trick to pull; he tells Naomi that she's been videotaped by Jordan's security guards, both of whom are named Rocco.

At work, it is the day of an IPO meeting with Steve Madden, a ladies shoe designer seeking to go public with his company. Jordan catches a geeky broker cleaning his goldfish tank. He sends Donnie to call the guy out and humiliate him in front of everybody by swallowing the man's goldfish whole and then sending him out while everybody else jeers him on. Steve Madden (Jake Hoffman) goes up to present his latest shoes, the Mary Lous (which one broker says look like fat woman shoes). The brokers start throwing junk at him, which Jordan stops. He wants Madden to join them in business, which he agrees to. Jordan then gets up to the stage to give a speech to the whole floor about the wonders of being rich. The stock is launched in the trading room and becomes a success, netting Stratton Oakmont $22 million in just three hours.

The FBI sends the company a subpoena to request Jordan's wedding video tape. Jordan meets his private investigator, Bo Dietl (playing himself) where Bo tells him that Denham has pictures of Jordan's inner circle. Jordan asks Dietl if it's possible to buy off Denham -- Dietl emphatically says 'no'.

A few days later, Jordan invites Denham and his partner Agent Hughes (Ted Griffin) onto the Naomi moored at a Long Island harbor. He shows them the list of everybody in attendance to the wedding. When Jordan tells Denham of an employee of his that he hired after needing money for his mother's triple bypass surgery, Denham interprets this as some sort of bribe. Jordan laughs it off and sends the agents off his yacht. He mockingly throws money at them as they walk away.

Jordan decides to keep his money safe from the tax men as well as thieves by storing it in offshore accounts. He, Donnie, and Rugrat go to Switzerland to get the job done. The trip there is chaotic for Jordan since he takes a bunch of quaaludes prior to the flight. He then behaves very lewdly toward the stewardess and he insults the pilot. He wakes up strapped to his chair. Donnie tells Jordan that he tried to start a riotous party on the airplane, dry-humping the female flight attendants and insulting the plane's captain, who personally restrained Jordan in his seat. Due to Rugrat's intervention, with assistance from his Swiss friend, Jordan isn't charged upon his arrival.

The trio meets with a group of French Swiss bankers led by Jean Jacques Sorel (Jean Dujardin), Rugrat's friend in college. Sorel persuades them to get someone outside the U.S. to store money in their account. Jordan travels to London, England to convince Naomi's Aunt Emma to take some money. This also leads to Jordan unsuccessfully trying to hit on her. They also use Brad's Slovak wife Chantalle (Katarina Cas) to smuggle money in with her family. Donnie and Brad get into an argument that ends with Brad punching Donnie out.

Some time later, Donnie drives out to a seedy Long Island strip mall to make an exchange with Brad. Brad had specifically asked Jordan to make sure Donnie didn't arrive at the meeting drugged out, but Donnie appears to be anyway. After a few moments, Donnie reveals that he isn't actually stoned for the meeting and begins to provoke Brad -- Donnie had taken very personally the fact that Brad had hit him. They get into another argument with the cops watching nearby. Donnie drops his briefcase of money and flees, leaving Brad to get arrested.

Donnie brings to Jordan a strong brand of quaaludes called Lemmon 714, a very rare version of the drug. The two take a pill each and watch "Family Matters" on the TV, but feel no effects after 35 minutes. They take more and still feel nothing. They find out that they expired in 1981. Naomi (pregnant again) goes downstairs to find the two working out. She tells Jordan that Bo Dietl is on the line. Dietl tells Jordan to go call him from a payphone. Jordan drives to a country club to use the payphone there. Dietl tells him about Brad getting arrested, and that Denham has Jordan's home and work phones tapped. Just then, Jordan starts to finally feel the effects of the Lemmons taking effect. He starts slurring his words and then collapses to the floor, unable to stand or walk. He crawls outside, rolls down the steps, and manages to open the door of his Lamborghini. Naomi calls him to say that Donnie is calling Sorel. Jordan makes an attempt to drive his car home despite being too high. He slowly manages to get home safely and crawls his way out of his car and to the kitchen to pull Donnie (who is also feeling the delayed effect of the quaaludes) off the phone. Donnie runs to stuff cold cuts in his mouth, but he starts choking and falls on top of the glass table. Naomi runs in to find Donnie turning blue and choking. Jordan grabs a little vial of coke from a drawer and pours the whole thing into his nose. This is juxtaposed with a Popeye cartoon as Olive Oyl feeds the sailor man some spinach, with the tune accompanying Jordan and the coke. He pulls the food out of Donnie's mouth and begins to apply a crude form of the Heimlich Maneuver. Jordan pauses for a few seconds, thinking he'll let Donnie die, until Naomi reminds him that Donnie has a family. Jordan finally gets Donnie to cough up the food he was choking on.

Jordan wakes up the next morning to find the police in his house. They arrest him when they show him his Lamborghini, with notable damage, despite Jordan thinking he got the car home in one piece. A flashback shows us that Jordan didn't make it home without damaging his car, hitting several other cars, a few golf carts and a mailbox. He is released after it's determined they have no proof Jordan was ever behind the wheel of the car. Manny and Max tell Jordan he got lucky.

Another few months later, Jordan holds a big meeting on his floor to announce that he is stepping down from the company to pass it onto Donnie, Pinhead, and Rugrat. He calls out one woman for starting at Stratton with "barely two nickels to rub together", and now living rich. He tells the brokers he loves all of them, moving them to tears. Jordan then changes his mind and decides to stay, leading to cheers. He gets everybody to join him in the "Money Chant." His father is not pleased, believing Jordan would be better off in taking the deal the FBI was offering.

Jordan holds a huge celebration on his yacht, right after Brad is released from jail. Brad subsequently quits doing business in stocks, and Jordan tells us he died of a heart attack two years later.

In June 1996, Jordan and Donnie take their wives to Portofino, Italy to continue the celebration. Rugrat calls then while they're drinking Bloody Marys and snorting cocaine to tell them that Steve Madden is unloading shares after hearing about Jordan's recent trouble with the law. To make matters worse, Naomi comes crying to tell Jordan that Aunt Emma died of a heart attack. Jordan is distraught, but more due to the fact that this leaves the $20 million in her account inaccessible. Jordan calls Sorel, who tells him that Aunt Emma named Jordan the successor to the money. He just needs to get to Switzerland immediately. Jordan runs to tell the captain to take them to Switzerland, despite Naomi's insistence that they go to England for the funeral. The captain warns that there may be choppy waters ahead, but Jordan doesn't care. Indeed, they do sail right into dangerous waters. Jordan orders Donnie to run and get more quaaludes, even as Donnie objects -- Jordan doesn't want to die sober. He runs downstairs anyway and brings the drugs up, just as a huge wave breaks through boat and turns it over. The group is rescued by a Italian Navy helicopter called in by Jordan. They're taken on another boat, and Jordan sees the jet crash into the ocean. He tells us this was due to a seagull flying into the engine. He believes this to be a sign from God.

Two years later, Jordan is sobered up. He is seen in an infomercial advertising his moneymaking seminar, Straight Line. During a taping of the infomercial, Denham and other agents arrest Jordan. Sorel had been arrested in Switzerland for crimes unrelated to Jordan, and he ended up ratting him out while having dinner with Rugrat (who is also arrested). Sorel had also been having an affair with Brad's wife whenever she smuggle cash to him in Switzerland. All the members of Stratton refuse to give anybody up to save themselves.

Donnie goes over to Jordan's place as he is under house arrest, he wears a locator on his right ankle. He says he's got Jordan's back in the scheme of things. He also asks Jordan how sober life is. Jordan thinks it sucks. Naomi is also furious with Jordan, refusing to speak to him.

Jordan and his lawyer meet with Denham and two other Department of Justice lawyers. They try to make a deal in which Jordan wears a wire to incriminate the other co-conspirators. They call the case a "Grenada" in reference to the US invasion of Grenada in the Caribbean, where the US government very easily suppressed an invasion of that island nation by Cuba. To them, the case will be easy for the Dept of Justice to win because of the overwhelming amount of evidence they've collected.

A few nights later, Jordan pesters Naomi for sex, and she eventually gives in and asks him to make love "as if it were the last time." Once the two are finished, she tells him it really was the last time; she intends to file for divorce, and tells Jordan that unless he agrees to every condition that she demands (a quick divorce, full custody of the two kids and half of his remaining wealth), she'll take out a restraining order that will bar Jordan from ever contacting her or the kids again. Jordan becomes enraged and insults her; she slaps him and he hits her back harder. He storms into a small sitting room and cuts open one of the sofa cushions, removing a bag of cocaine. He snorts a good-sized amount and runs into Skyler's room taking from her bed. Over Naomi's panicked protests, he runs downstairs to leave with Skyler. Naomi and the Belforts' maid try to stop Jordan as he drives the car out of the garage, but he ends up crashing into a wall just a few yards away. Skyler is unharmed as she was wearing her seat belt, but Jordan suffers a head injury. Naomi takes Skyler out of the car, as a dazed Jordan gradually realizes he will probably never see his two daughters again after this latest incident.

Jordan is set up with the wire to bring in his partners. They all cheer for him upon his return. He goes to start with Donnie. Jordan slides him a note that says "Don't incriminate yourself. I'm wearing a wire." When he asks Donnie about their financial practices, Donnie pretends not to remember anything.

The FBI arrive at Jordan's house to arrest him when they discover the note he slipped to Donnie (though not shown, the note was given to Denham by Donnie himself, likely as part of a deal that will leave Donnie unaffected). While Donnie rapidly deletes any incriminating files on his office computer the rest of the co-conspirators are arrested in the office. In court, Jordan is sentenced to 36 months in prison. His mother cries as her son is taken away while Max looks at him disappointed. When he arrives at prison, Jordan admits that he was terrified when he got there. For a fleeting moment, he says, he forgot that he was rich. He had become so accustomed to a life where everything was for sale.

The final scene takes place at a Straight Line seminar in Auckland, New Zealand (The host is played by the real Jordan Belfort). Jordan comes out to the crowd and stands before one man. He pulls out a pen and tells him to sell it to him. The man awkwardly starts his pitch before Jordan takes the pen away. He hands it to another, who is equally awkward. Jordan continues to do the same with more guests, as all the hopeful future millionaires watch him.

----------------------------------------
luci1977
----------------------------------------

I've always thought that there must be a very good reason for a movie to last 3 hours. Wolf of wall street does last 3 hours but there no shadow of a good reason for it. It could have lasted 1 hour and it would have been already too long.

It is difficult to summarize all the things I didn't like but let's try:

1- Characters development is simply not existent. There is no depth, just one-dimension flat characters that only do drugs, sex, and money. I am not against showing drugs or sex or money in a movie, if it helps the plot. But in this case, it didn't. It was 2 hours of absolute useless display of all the possible debaucheries on earth, without them helping in building up the characters. 2- If a guy manages to build up an empire based on a fraud, I'd like to see what happens to his victims too, and, sorry if I am not a master of Wall street, but I'd like to have 5 minutes of the movie spent in explaining what was this fraud about. 3- If the guy, once again, not only builds his own empire, but also drags other people in that, I suppose he must have some smartness, or intelligence, or be a master manipulator.. whatever it is, it cannot be just (once again) cocaine and prostitute. If they wanted to depict the guys as villains, they failed miserably. 4- the only relatively interesting part (the trial etc) is cut to 30-45 minutes max. Once again, I supposed it could have been a good chance to show some introspection of the characters, some development..something! But no, once again, nothing. We only notice that now the beer is not alcoholic. So sad. 5-Finally, DiCaprio performance: he did his job, probably, but he was alway over the top (and not in a good sense). Too much of everything, to the point that he fell into being ridiculous more than believable.

Ah, one last note. Wall Street? Where is it in all the story? I expected to see some connections to WS in fact, like what was going on in the meantime but there is - sorry to repeat myself- basically nothing about it.

----------------------------------------
mags slotnic from United States
----------------------------------------

Even though Jordan Belfort is a convicted con man, Scorsese & DiCaprio were apparently too dense to realize that his book was yet another of his scams. They leapt on Belfort's book like pigs on a pile of slop and thought everyone would be just as enamored as they were with the alleged life story of a sociopathic, sleazeball swindler. One example of how they got conned: In real life, Belfort never warned his cohorts that he was wearing a wire! In reality, he was a cry-baby snitch who immediately agreed to testify against his co-conspirators, never giving any of them a word of warning.

It's rather amusing to watch Scorsese & DiCaprio as they try to explain that this movie isn't a glorification of Belfort's swindling & debauchery. C'mom, guys, 'fess up, all three hours of the movie is a celebration of it! You wasted $100 million to make an homage to a drug- addicted, misogynistic low-life who swindled people out of their hard- earned money! Proud of yourselves?

Here's the "Spoiler Alert": You are being conned if you go to this movie. But go ahead and give your hard-earned money to this convicted swindler and the "Hollywood sophisticates" who think his pathetically sad life is worth being turned into a movie. Just know that Belfort is laughing all the way to the bank, and you are his latest victim.

----------------------------------------
Clayton Davis (Claytondavis@awardscircuit.com) from New Jersey
----------------------------------------

Martin Scorsese has done it again. His newest and most refreshing effort he's contributed to the world of cinema in years, The Wolf of Wall Street is a roaring thrill ride that is both absolutely hilarious and meticulously constructed. It also presents Academy Award nominee Leonardo DiCaprio in possibly his finest acting performance of his career. At one-minute shy of three hours, I was both engaged and hypnotized nearly the entire duration. A comedic epic that studies the behavior and cultures of a time in America, feels like the uncovering of a time capsule that was buried and dug up to give insight into our current financial crisis. Much more than just laughs, it turns on the dramatic elements early enough in the film to warrant considerable reactions about the choices of our key characters. Expertly paced with intelligent moral questions presented, The Wolf of Wall Street is one of the best films of the year.

Telling the story of Jordan Belfort, a young Wall Street broker that gets involved in drugs, money, and even more drugs during the 80's and 90's. In his tenure trading (and stealing), Jordan marries, divorces, does drugs, marries again, does even more drugs, makes solid friendships, and believe it or not, does a lot more drugs. Watching the destruction of Jordan acted as a documentarian's insight that felt like I was watching "Intervention" without the family that cares. The Wolf of Wall Street is a black comedy, giving hints of drama. Natural comparisons will fly to Oliver Stone's Wall Street which is accurate but you can see subtle hints of films like Trading Places, Glengarry Glen Ross, and even American Psycho. That's a testament to Scorsese's outstanding direction and Terence Winter's masterful screenplay. Scorsese keeps Wolf life-size, sprinkled with characters that are both geniuses and morons, but functioning morons. They're like the frat pack group that sat in a corner on my college campus, being loud and obnoxious, and made terrible life choices that they still aren't aware of until this day. Scorsese puts together an all-star cast to inhabit these beings that includes DiCaprio, Jonah Hill, Margot Robbie, Matthew McConaughey, Jon Bernathal, and Kyle Chandler. All of which seem to be having the time of their lives.

A lot of the credit of the film's overall success has to be awarded to Leonardo DiCaprio. I've never seen him truly "go for it" in a way that he exhibits as Jordan Belfort. In his breaking of the fourth wall, to his long but completely engaging monologues about life, money, and greed, it's the most assured and compelling work by the actor to date. When DiCaprio unleashed his talents in the mid-90's in What's Eating Gilbert Grape? and later stole the hearts of tween girls everywhere in Titanic, who knew this is the role he'd been gearing up to play. This is the role of his career and something that the Academy Awards should look to for his long overdue recognition. It's a charming and adventurous turn that presents a conundrum to the audience as we find ourselves both enamored and loathing the pure essence of Jordan. A sequence of DiCaprio crawling on the floor will probably be the scene of the year. This is DiCaprio's crowning achievement.

As the magnetic and cheesy-minded right-hand man, Jonah Hill's performance as Donnie Azoff is another great turn for the 30-year-old actor. He's allowed to explore some of his comedic ticks and beats that he may not have ever had the opportunity to explore in films like Superbad or 21 Jump Street. In Wolf, he relies on his own instincts, and his chemistry with DiCaprio, which has helped him before for his Oscar-nominated work in Moneyball opposite Brad Pitt. Matthew McConaughey, is one scene shy of winning the Oscar for Best Supporting Actor. While his work in Dallas Buyers Club will bring him the acclaim and recognition that he deserves, The Wolf of Wall Street is a prime example of what he should be doing when he's not working or seeking out the strong, independent features that are geared for awards recognition. Stealing every frame and focus from DiCaprio in his ten minute screen time, McConaughey utilizes all his charm and spunk as Mark Hanna, the mentor to young Jordan as he started out.

Like any great Scorsese film, the women are in full-force and given the opportunity to shine like the others. Cristin Millotti, a toned down and tragic version of Marisa Tomei in My Cousin Vinny, is sensational in her brief appearances on screen. Beautiful and sympathetic, she offers much needed serious and dramatic elements to Jordan's outrageous antics. In the end, a star is born in the gorgeous and vivacious Margot Robbie as Naomi Lapaglia, Jordan's second wife. Whoever was going to be cast as Naomi, had to be an actress of considerable talent and had the ability to really be the sexy kitten but still warrant an emotional reaction from the audience when called upon. Margot Robbie was the perfect choice and she'll need to owe Scorsese royalties for years to come with the roles she'll be offered following this. Robbie is pure magic and is everything she's required to be. She's the more elusive, compelling, and more thought out version of Scarlett Johansson's character in Don Jon.

I loved every second of The Wolf of Wall Street. Terence Winter's script is a natural and well-oiled machine that produces the words of a demigod. You couldn't make these things up. Thelma Schoonmaker is the utmost professional and continues to shine film after film. You won't find another dedicated and glossed editing work this year. The other supporting actors do sensational work especially Kyle Chandler, who has a very well-constructed exchange on a boat with DiCaprio, has us asking more and more, why is this guy not helming his own films on a consistent basis yet?

----------------------------------------
Koodle0101 from United States
----------------------------------------

This movie is NOT rated "R" but rather "NC-17" if not "X" rated. I got tired and almost fell asleep a some parts. About half of the movie is nothing more then them drinking, partying, and doing drugs. Literally. Also a bunch of pornography. It's like a college gone crazy for half of the movie (you see like 40+ boobies, a bunch of sex scenes, and a few shorts glimpse of a penis AND vagina)I got so excessive everyone I went with debated on leaving...

The humor is not bad and there is a decent amount of it throughout the movie. (7/10) The acting, mainly Leonardo, was fantastic! (9.5/10) The story is a bit shallow. Basically a bunch of people lying, cheating, stealing, and running/escaping on Wall Street and making a lot of "dirty" illegal money. Then talking talk and talking bad about other people who are honest but make less. The movie portrays a picture that money is the most important thing and it is what brings you happiness very well. (2/10) Near the end it shows that being controlled by money is very bad, but it wasn't portrayed as well as it did trying to argue for money bringing happiness. It shows a bunch of "rich" folks who have nothing but money thinking they're above everyone else. No health, no relationships, no integrity, no manners, no respect, no honesty, no time, nothing but money and the animalistic drive to get more and destroy everything in the way.

As a movie it makes the world a depressing place. Overall the main thing I like about the movie is Leonardo Dicaprio. Props to him for continuing to be an awesome actor. The movie content itself was subpar.

----------------------------------------
Brent Hankins from www.nerdrep.com
----------------------------------------

In the mid-1990s, Jordan Belfort (Leonardo DiCaprio) and the rest of his associates from brokerage firm Stratton Oakmont became the very definition of excess and debauchery, their offices a boiler room fueled by cocaine and greed. High pressure sales tactic and less-than-legal behind-the-scenes manipulation bred plenty of twenty-something millionaires, and Belfort built himself an empire at the top of the heap. His rise and fall is chronicled in The Wolf of Wall Street, based on the memoir of the same name.

Under most circumstances, the actions of Belfort and his cronies (including Jonah Hill in a howlingly funny turn as Belfort's business partner) would be viewed as disgustingly abhorrent, but Martin Scorsese frames this tale of greed with a comedic lens that allows us to laugh at things we probably shouldn't find humorous. Whether it's a clumsy attempt at fisticuffs between two characters overdosing on Quaaludes, or the categorization of prostitutes using stock market terminology ("blue chip" hookers make you wear a condom and typically accept credit cards), the film is outrageous from start to finish, and rarely falters in its quest to entertain the audience for three hours.

Belfort manages to delude himself and his pals into thinking they can live like this forever, but the audience knows better, and Belfort's eventual comeuppance is hardly surprising. But the path is paved with hilarity, especially in a scene aboard the mogul's luxury yacht, where he surreptitiously offers a pair of FBI agents everything from booze to girls to cold hard cash in exchange for their silence. And let's not forget his punishment for drunkenly piloting a helicopter into the backyard of his estate at 3am, raising the ire of his trophy wife (Margot Robbie).

Scorsese has always managed to elicit astounding performances from his actors, and his fifth collaboration with Leonardo DiCaprio results in one of the most charismatic, despicable, offensive and captivating characters to ever appear on screen. As financial bad boy Belfort, DiCaprio swaggers from scene to scene ingesting eye-popping amounts of narcotics, groping and fondling nearly every female within reach, and spouting more profanity in three hours than an entire season of The Sopranos. Belfort is the kind of person that any sane person would detest in real life, but thanks to Scorses and DiCaprio, we can't take our eyes off him.

-- Brent Hankins, www.nerdrep.com

----------------------------------------
margiepargie12 from United States
----------------------------------------

It's hard to find the words to explain how TRULY AWFUL this film is. I'll try to do a list:

1) There's no context: They never show the victims of the fraud. We see the sales effort but not the people they're selling to. How can you do a movie about people perpetrating a fraud without showing the fraud & its effects???

2) There's no character development: They all start out as disgusting creeps and they all end up being disgusting creeps.

3) There's not much of a plot: It's 2 and 1/2 hours of debauchery and then 1/2 hour of getting caught. The debauchery part goes on forever and gets boring really fast. Not to mention disturbing & disgusting. Did Scorsese really make this movie just to show all this debauchery? What's the point of showing 2 and 1/2 hours of it? We get the point that they are gross lunatics pretty fast. Why keep going with seemingly endless variations of it? There is no point to it.

So, when all is said & done, this is basically a movie about debauchery. It should have been called "Satyrs of Long Island" instead of "Wolves of Wall Street" because these turkeys operated from LI and there's practically nothing in the movie about actual Wall Street firms.

----------------------------------------
GoneWithTheTwins from www.GoneWithTheTwins.com
----------------------------------------

"The Wolf of Wall Street" paints a very decadent picture of the financial sector and its corrupted denizens, perverted by money and greed. A multitude of insatiable degenerates are depicted participating in an unending array of grand parties, laced with copious drugs, alcohol, and prostitutes, splashed across the screen in unabashed opulence. And these are the good guys. Similar to the way director Martin Scorsese's "Goodfellas" glorifies the lifestyle of mafia gangsters, "The Wolf of Wall Street" attempts to create an enticement to the immoral habits of stockbrokers wallowing in hedonism.

But in this world of white-collar crime, where the victims are faceless and there are no real villains, no threat of death or physical harm exists. Conflict and, most surprisingly, consequences, are also absent. There isn't even any character progression. Everyone starts as a money-grubbing scoundrel and ends the same way, despite encountering several opportunities to learn from their unscrupulous practices. Even if that's more magnetic, the evident drought of suspense or redemption leaves the audience with 180 minutes of darkly comedic events featuring nothing but sex and substance abuse. It's never unstimulating, but it's also not much of a story.

Aspiring to be a successful stockbroker, fiercely ambitious Jordan Belfort (Leonardo DiCaprio) interns at an investment firm and, under the guidance of zealous salesman Mark Hanna (Matthew McConaughey), learns the tactics of persuasion. When the "Black Monday" stock market crash of 1987 finds Belfort unemployed, he discovers the highly profitable world of penny stocks (with their unregulated attributes) and quickly begins planning the birth of his own empire. Recruiting several of his friends, including drug dealers and his neighbor Donnie Azoff (Jonah Hill), Jordan begins training them in the art of selling – and soon opens brokerage firm Stratton Oakmont. It's not long before Belfort and his cohorts have amassed excessive monetary assets and begin reveling in the debauchery unlimited funds affords them. But as Stratton Oakmont rises in prominence, it catches the eye of FBI Agent Patrick Denham (Kyle Chandler), who launches an investigation into the shady practices of the fiscal giant.

In the lavish, exploitive, overindulgent world of stock market racketeering, Scorsese clearly points out the entertainment value of stimulants, hookers, and unconscionable partying. Sobriety is boring, existence in the real world is unbearable, bacchanalian celebrations must replace simple socializing, workplace corruption results in a slap on the wrist, and money can fix everything except the torturous constraints of marriage. "I want you to deal with your problems by becoming rich," commands Jordan, proceeding to narratively glorify superficiality, materialism, substance abuse, sex addiction, and every other pleasurable vice, with ferocious enthusiasm. He frequently speaks straight to the camera, braggingly unveiling his obscene wealth and expenditures (at one point he's ruffled over not making at least $1 million per day). With a three hour running time, "The Wolf of Wall Street" is 90% eye-popping revelry and 10% routine storytelling.

The unholy exorbitance of nudity, cursing, and snorting cocaine correlates directly to the plentiful comedic scenes. Each one carries on too long, brimming with visual details that make the film earnestly earn its hard R rating. But its excessiveness is also repetitive, dragging out the festivities with titillating particulars over and over again. The entire film is conducted with a snappy, zippy, lighthearted tone (clashing with the obvious crime, again like "Goodfellas"), revealing masturbatory elaboration to be jovial, experiencing mind-altering highs to be frolicsome, officious salesmanship to be a thrilling avenue for scamming faceless fools, and brushing with the FBI and SEC (over IPO dishonesty) to be adventurous. Ludicrous exchanges are delivered straight-faced, with numerous conversations carrying on to laugh-out-loud success.

But the criminal activities are victimless and the justice isn't applied on screen to anyone outside of the antihero lead, making every role a larger-than-life caricature (Jonah Hill is occasionally unrecognizable), the outcome more of a joke than repercussion, and the allure of "get rich quick" schemes not the least bit faded. Meanwhile, the idea of illegal undertakings appearing maddeningly gratifying as long as authorities are eluded is wantonly ennobled – perhaps made more appealing than ever before on film. If Scarface learned something from his rise and fall, Belfort most certainly did not.

- The Massie Twins

----------------------------------------
andrew cappelletti from United States
----------------------------------------

The last few Scorsese pics left me a little disappointed. I had begun to think Marty had become a 'gun for hire' and that his brilliance may have been spent (his earlier works were some of the best movies ever made). I attended a screening of The Wolf of Wall Street this evening, and was expecting to be unimpressed. I am happy to say I was completely blown away. This pic is Marty at his best. I laughed, I cringed, I related (with fond memories as well as a bit of guilt) and I TOTALLY believed every unbelievable moment. A good book, a great screenplay and a delightful cast were formed and molded into what I believe should get Scorsese a best director Oscar, and likely a Best Picture Award for the movie. Leo DiCaprio has grown into a versatile actor and his creation of this super hero dirtbag's roller coaster ride in this crazy (true) story is really honest and delightfully entertaining. Jonah Hill pulled out all the stops too and this is definitely his best work. Thank you Mr. Scorsese for delivering the goods so brilliantly!

----------------------------------------
Clive Barons from United States
----------------------------------------

How can a film this bad costing $100M get past any adult review process. It seemed like Scorcese and DiCaprio made it for their own egos -- big budget/Gatsby-level theatrics and face-time respectively. DiCaprio does a good job in the role but we all (age range 25 to 65) kept waiting for the movie to come to the point. Hours of redundancy of plot and gratuitous over use of swearing and sex scenes the message and context could have been delivered with about sixty percent less: we kept waiting for a fatal drug overdose to change the direction of the plot and give it some purpose . . We almost walked out a couple of times but did not and waited for the plot to come to a point. We didn't and suffered the full three hours.

----------------------------------------
aharmas from United States
----------------------------------------

De Caprio is the heart of the film, a daredevil whose motivation seems to be a misguided desire to acquire as much money as possible. He lives his life as a constant dare, using and abusing the investments of others, gambling with his personal relationships and his own health. He constantly endangers his life and those who are closest to him. It seems like he is capable of stopping this fall, but he keeps sinking and sinking. We could say he has a survivor's nature, but he carries with a very intense death wish, too.

Usually, it's easy to understand how people like him become so successful. There's gotta be a bit of charisma to their natures, so that we can see how they seduce the rest of the world into following them. Unfortunately, the main lead here lacks that quality, and in one of the worst casting choices in recent history, what we get is a man who is not full of life and youth. He himself become his own iceberg as he reveals his "age" early in the film, and De Caprio hasn't looked that youthful in decades. This is not to say that De Caprio doesn't try, but he's not a good fit for this role. About three years ago, in "The Social Network" we could see the recklessness and drive of man who could lure you into a trap. There's no way that seems believable here, especially when you see the people he surrounds himself with. His wolf can't cast a spell, and he can hardly bite.

Mercifully, we are not treated to the hyper kinetic editing and camera work we usually encounter in Scorcese's films, but he's found other ways to annoy us. He intermingles "Infomercials" throughout the movie, as if we need reinforcement about the seductive power of his character. They are sometimes ridiculous, and I doubt that is the intent. There are also liberties with the source, and it's a pity because the text is a delight to read, giving us the opportunity to wonder how something that is definitely based on reality can appear so unbelievable. The movie tries desperately to portray the excess and trappings of wealth, but there is nothing sexy about the constant parade of prostitutes and the overuse of obscenities, which occur at least every other minute. The books gives us time to breathe. Nothing like that is ever possible here, and that's why the film feels flat, not necessarily boring, but it fails to crackle because it's just too much of the same, never showing us where all the madness originates. There's little fire, just an endless portrayal of stupidity.

Not all is lost (like in that other film) because we have a rising star here. Margot Robbie makes quite an entrance and gives the best and most solid performance here, enhanced by the mess the rest of the cast comes up with. She's a formidable beauty, with lots of ambition, an overpowering stare that will let you see that she is not afraid to seek ambition, but she is still a full human being, capable of distinguishing between right and wrong. She reminds you of a more powerful Sharon Stone in her earlier films, and she is as talented as she is gorgeous. Here we see how one person can become obsessed with another, but it also makes you wonder why anyone would even stray from such a beauty. Oh, yes, I forgot it's perfectly obvious drugs can totally ruin your life and turn you into a monster.

The film is way too long, with more than a dozen scenes that could have been eliminated because they don't add anything to the story flow. We wish we could see more of the FBI agents, and it would be helpful to see why Wolf doesn't seem to find any way to listen to his father, a wonderful and underused Reiner.

We can guess the film's ending from its early frames. It seems as if all the energy goes into the presentation of the material, and little consideration is giving to the dialogue, other than peppering the conversations with redundant expletives. Parading naked people around, having snorting line after line of that white powder, or coming up with sound blasting songs to underscore a point is a brutal point to deliver a message. Just recently the Coens gives us a more dimensional creation with no more than a few ungrateful remarks here and there. All the time I could only wonder how it was that this film escaped the stamping of that NC 17 rating because its only success was the abuse of visual imagery and irritating language that loses its impact as it appears in an endless barrage of mind numbing utterances.

Matthew McConaughey's scenes were shot on the second week of filming. The chest beating and humming performed by him was improvised and actually a warm-up rite that he performs before acting. When Leonardo DiCaprio saw it while filming, the brief shot of him looking away uneasily from the camera was actually him looking at Martin Scorsese for approval. DiCaprio encouraged them to include it in their scene and later claimed it "set the tone" for the rest of the film.
------------------------

The actors snorted crushed B vitamins for scenes that involved cocaine.
------------------------

Margot Robbie claimed that her sex scene with Leonardo DiCaprio on a bed full of cash was extremely uncomfortable, as the fake paper bills had sharp edges resulting in multiple paper cuts to her back.
------------------------

Wanting to work with Martin Scorsese, Jonah Hill took a pay cut by being paid the S.A.G. minimum, which was $60,000.
------------------------

Martin Scorsese claimed that the sequence of Jordan attempting to get in his car while extremely impaired on Lemmons was improvised on the day of filming, and that it was Leonardo DiCaprio's idea to open the car door with his foot. DiCaprio strained his back during the scene, and was only able to perform the stunt once.
------------------------

Martin Scorsese has confirmed that some of the editing is odd on purpose, especially the scenes where one or more characters are high, every time Jordan is seen taken drugs the scenes that follow have continuity issues and often flow oddly.
------------------------

The majority of the film was improvised, as Martin Scorsese often encourages.
------------------------

Originally, Martin Scorsese offered Margot Robbie to appear wearing a bath-robe during the seduction scene between her and Leonardo DiCaprio. Robbie refused and insisted on doing the scene fully nude; her first in her career. According to Robbie: "The whole point of Naomi is that her body is her only form of currency in this world...She has to be naked. She's laying her cards on the table." Robbie said she had three shots of tequila in succession before shooting the scene to relax. After shooting was complete, Robbie initially fibbed to her family and friends about actually doing the nude scene in order to delay any personal repercussions; claiming C.G.I. was used to superimpose her head on a body-double. She eventually changed her mind and confessed when the film was released.
------------------------

On a routine visit, Steven Spielberg spent a day on the set, watching the shoot of the Steve Madden speech. Martin Scorsese claims that Spielberg essentially codirected the scene, giving advice to actors and suggesting camera angles.
------------------------

During the kissing scene between Leonardo DiCaprio and Joanna Lumley, Leonardo was so nervous that the scene required a reported twenty-seven takes to get it right.
------------------------

During the search for the right Donnie Azoff, Martin Scorsese had requested a meeting with Jonah Hill, but Hill demanded he audition for the part. It was Hill's first audition in six years.
------------------------

Jordan Belfort coached Leonardo DiCaprio on his behavior, especially instructing him in the various ways he had reacted to the Quaaludes he abused as well as his dope induced confrontation with Danny Porush.
------------------------

Jonah Hill had an audible lisp when he first put the teeth in to play Donnie. To get rid of this, he spent over two hours on the phone calling random businesses and talking with them.
------------------------

Leonardo DiCaprio was obsessed with playing Jordan Belfort since getting hold of the book back in 2007, DiCaprio has been focused on turning the depraved tale of Jordan Belfort into a film. However, he wasn't just interested in this story's connection to the most recent collapse on Wall Street, he was also attracted to Jordan's honest and uncompromising portrayal of what he actually experienced.
------------------------

The word 'fuck' and its numerous conjugations are said 569 times, making this the film with the most uses of the word in a main-stream, non-documentary film.
------------------------

Martin Scorsese needed a pick-up shot of the "fasten your seat belt" blinking sign for the airplane scene but didn't want to waste time and money on setting up a Gimbel. Robert Legato, the effects supervisor, took a reference video of one during a flight with his iPhone to show Scorsese. Upon seeing the footage, Scorsese said "Great. Let's just use that." Thus, the film became Scorsese's first to incorporate footage taken from an iPhone.
------------------------

The real Mark Hanna, who was portrayed by Matthew McConaughey, stated he bought 25% of Jordan Belfort's business and worked with him for two more years. This was not depicted in the film.
------------------------

Leonardo DiCaprio says that he and Martin Scorsese were able to 'push the envelope' with their depiction of over-the-top sexual acts and scenes in "Wolf" and 'make the movie they wanted to' primarily because the production was financed independently,and not by any major studio. Scorsese did, however, edit some sexual content and nudity to avoid an N.C.-17 rating at the request of the M.P.A.A.
------------------------

Grossing $392 million worldwide, this is Martin Scorsese's highest grossing film of his career.
------------------------

This movie was banned in 5 countries due to high sexual content.
------------------------

Leonardo DiCaprio's dance scene was done on the spot, but he learned it by himself over decades.
------------------------

Footage of the actual 1991 Hamptons beach party is shown in the film, with Jordan Belfort and then-fiancè e Nadine Caridi ("Naomi Belfort") can be found on YouTube.
------------------------

In an interview with Margot Robbie, she reveals that for the scene where Jordan and Naomi have sex for the first time in her apartment and her dog tries to jump up and bite him that they had trouble getting the dog to jump, so they had to put dog food and chicken livers all over Leonardo DiCaprio's feet and between his toes.
------------------------

In order to show Jordan's state of mind, director of photography Rodrigo Prieto constantly switched lens types. For scenes where Jordan is in a clear mental state, flat spherical lenses are used, while in sections where he does not, anamorphic lenses are used. Longer focal lenses are used from the stage where Jordan is being pursued by Denham and his team to reflect Belfort's unraveling and the sense of being spied upon.
------------------------

The initial cut of the film ran approximately four hours.
------------------------

The real Jordan Belfort says the model for his get-rich-quick, and by-any-means, ruthlessly unscrupulous disposition was Gordon Gekko in Wall Street (1987).
------------------------

Leonardo DiCaprio explained to Ellen DeGeneres that during the Quaalude sequence it took them seventy takes just to get the ham to stick to his face. This was achieved by flicking the ham off of a spoon and using K Y jelly in order to make it sticky enough.
------------------------

This cast assembled by director Martin Scorsese's film includes three other prominent directors in acting roles: Rob Reiner, Spike Jonze, and Jon Favreau.
------------------------

Production was halted for a week during Hurricane Sandy's assault on New York in late 2012. Martin Scorsese was even denied access to his film facility on Manhattan's 57th Street due to the potential hazards posed by a toppled crane near his building.
------------------------

Leonardo DiCaprio cited Caligola (1979) as an inspiration for the way he wanted the excess and decadence depicted in the film.
------------------------

When Jordan is filming one of his infomercials, he appears on a boat in front of women in brightly colored bikinis. This is a direct homage to Tom Vu's infomercials from the late 80s and early 90s in which people would be invited to his get-rich-quick seminars.
------------------------

Kenneth Choi gained nearly twenty-five pounds for his role as Chester Ming.
------------------------

Rob Reiner's first live-action feature-film fictional role (i.e., not appearing as himself) since Alex & Emma (2003).
------------------------

Mark Hanna is an actual stock-broker who eventually also went to prison for securities fraud, but many other names in the movie have been changed: Jordan Belfort's partner Danny Porush (who also was later imprisoned) is renamed Donnie Azoff; lawyer Ira Lee Sorkin, who later would defend Bernard Madoff is Manny Riskin; F.B.I. Agent Gregory Coleman is now called Patrick Denham. and Nadine Belfort is now Naomi Belfort
------------------------

The cameo by Sharon Jones performing Goldfinger, the title theme to the James Bond film Goldfinger (1964), at Jordan and Naomi's wedding is a reference to Jordan Belfort's actual wedding where "Nobody Does It Better", the theme song from another Bond film, The Spy Who Loved Me (1977), was performed.
------------------------

This is the first film for producers Riza Aziz and Joey McFarland under their Red Granite banner. According to them, they decided to finance this film as a challenge in response to the idea that no studio was willing to finance an explicit, over-the-top sex-laced film with a large budget (produced at around $100,000,000). Aziz and McFarland were formerly investment bankers, the bulk of the funding comes from their investors' contacts, mostly from Mid-West Asia.
------------------------

Another Martin Scorsese/Goodfellas (1990) & Boardwalk Empire (2010) character connection is former N.Y.C. super-cop and now-prominent private investigator Bo Dietl, appearing as himself as Jordan Belfort's real-life P.I., and recreating an actual dinner meeting at East Harlem's infamous and exclusive mob/celebrity insiders' restaurant, Rao's.
------------------------

Martin Scorsese claims that he didn't meet the real Jordan Belfort until the film's premiere. However, Belfort was on-set with Scorsese present during filming.
------------------------

Although this was originally announced as Martin Scorsese's first non-3D movie to be shot entirely digitally, it ended up being mostly shot on film. Shooting outside at night was done with digital cameras to minimize the need for extensive lighting.
------------------------

Chris Evans and Joseph Gordon-Levitt auditioned for a role.
------------------------

Blake Lively and Rosie Huntington-Whiteley were considered to play Naomi. Teresa Palmer and Amber Heard auditioned for Naomi before Margot Robbie was cast.
------------------------

The movie's opening scene showing the Stratton Oakmont T.V. advertisement is a direct homage to the iconic Dreyfus Fund T.V. spots in 1958 that famously featured a lion.
------------------------

On the first day of production, the handle of a prop briefcase being carried by Leonardo DiCaprio broke and almost caused the actor to be hit by a period car on set.
------------------------

The role of Steve Madden was played by Jake Hoffman, Dustin Hoffman's son.
------------------------

"RFK 575" -the license plate number visible on the front of Jordan's yellow Jaguar that he parks at the Greek diner when he first meets Donnie, is the exact same plate number also used in at least three other previous films: The Long Kiss Goodnight (1996), Final Destination (2000), and Zoolander (2001).
------------------------

Leonardo DiCaprio was paid $25 million for his role, a quarter of the film's budget, making him the highest paid star of the year.
------------------------

While a law student in the mid-80s, screenwriter Terence Winter worked part-time as a legal assistant in Merrill Lynch's equity trading department, an experience which provided some background for this movie.
------------------------

According to Martin Scorsese, the scene where Jordan returns home high on Quaaludes to address Donnie, the island in the middle of the kitchen was originally a hindrance that couldn't be removed since it was an filmed in an actual house. He would've preferred to not have been there originally but it ended up working well in the scene since Jordan was unable to move properly being so high and whatever prevented him from getting to Donnie added to the physical humor.
------------------------

When Jordan Belfort shows up at a gritty Long Island strip mall answering an advertisement for brokers, he enters a store-front with a sign above it touting "Robert Mancuso Accounting." This is an insider's nod to veteran camera assistant Bobby Mancuso, who not only worked on "Wolf" but on two other major releases the same year: The Secret Life of Walter Mitty (2013) and Inside Llewyn Davis (2013).
------------------------

Julie Andrews was considered to play Aunt Emma, before Joanna Lumley was cast.
------------------------

Right before Joanna Lumley, a Bond girl in On Her Majesty's Secret Service (1969), appears in the film, the Bond theme from Goldfinger (1964) is being played by the band at the wedding scene.
------------------------

When Jordan pumps up shoe designer Steve Madden to his broker shock troops as an equal to Coco Chanel, it rings true, since Belfort's actual, 167-foot yacht had originally been built for Chanel in 1961.
------------------------

The first Martin Scorsese film to be shot with anamorphic lenses since Bringing Out the Dead (1999).
------------------------

For the deposition scenes, the actors were merely instructed by Martin Scorsese to avoid saying anything important, or anything at all. They have the freedom to improvise how to do that. Editor Thelma Schoonmaker said that these scenes, some of them 20-minute long, were hysterical due to the things they came up with.
------------------------

Ridley Scott was asked to direct this movie.
------------------------

There are a total of 680 curse words throughout the movie.
------------------------

As of release, this is the longest movie directed by Martin Scorsese.
------------------------

The first major studio film to be released exclusively in digital video in the United States and Canada. No thirty-five-millimetre prints were struck for these markets, but were for countries where digital projection is not as extensive.
------------------------

The gray Jaguar in which Jordan and Donny are driving to the auto shop which they want to rent, is the same Jaguar that stands outside the diner seen through the windows where Jordan and Donny first meet. The shots of the yellow Jaguar are filmed later and the car can not be seen through the window during the scene.
------------------------

The screenplay for this film was featured in the 2007 Blacklist; a list of the 'most liked' unmade scripts of the year.
------------------------

Martin Scorsese and Thelma Schoonmaker edited the film in Scorsese's house.
------------------------

When Jordan is talking about Brad's death he says: "He was 35, same age as Mozart. I don't know why I remember that" This is a reference to Amadeus (1984) where Mozart (whose first name was Wolfgang) is repeatedly called "Wolfie" through the film by his wife Constanze. In this film, Jordan is called "Wolfie" repeatedly while in is office and by his friends.
------------------------

The Buscemi T.V. clip also connects with the movie's broader link with two H.B.O. series The Sopranos (1999) and Boardwalk Empire (2010), since "Wolf" includes Martin Scorsese, Terence Winter, and actors Cristin Milioti, Jon Favreau and Chris Caldovino.
------------------------

The white car Jordan drives under the influence is a Lamborghini Countach. Back then in the 1980s this car didn't meet the safety requirements in the US with its original design. It had to be specially modified with additional bumpers in order to meet the safety requirements in the US market. The one that is seen in the movie has these additional bumpers on. Today any car older than 25 years old is exempt from design legislations in the US, so the Countach can be used freely without the bumpers.
------------------------

The diner that Jordan and Danny meet in is named Kacandes, after Executive Producer Georgia Kacandes.
------------------------

Gene Hackman was considered for the opening voiceover.
------------------------

The film is banned in Malaysia, Nepal, Zimbabwe, and Kenya.
------------------------

The phone number for Stratton Oakmont is 1-800-555-0199.
------------------------

One of three Jonah Hill movies in consecutive years with Street in the title, coming between 21 Jump Street (2012) and 22 Jump Street (2014).
------------------------

The Joanna Lumley role was first offered to Eileen Atkins.
------------------------

Martin Scorsese said that there were actual real life stockbrokers on the set, some of whom actually worked at the real Stratton-Oakmont firm.
------------------------

Jonah Hill also rectally smuggles drugs onto a flight in Get Him to the Greek (2010).
------------------------

Writer Jacob Sullivan worked 10 days on the film in an unspecified position.
------------------------

The real Jordan Belfort supported the film's depiction of excess as true to life, though he pointed out that the film leaves the impression that Stratton Oakmont never did any serious work. In Belfort argued that they could not have gotten away with their corrupt practices for so long unless they had been delivering on legitimate business most of the time.
------------------------

Steve Buscemi: a very young Steve is shown in a stock clip from The Equalizer: Re-Entry (1987) that "Mad" Max Belfort (Rob Reiner) is watching at home.
------------------------

Martin Scorsese: as the voice of John, the first client, to whom Jordan sells Aerotyne I.N.D. penny stocks.
------------------------

The scene where Brad punches Donnie is real, in fact Jon Bernthal hit Jonah Hill so hard that the prosthetic teeth he was wearing split and flew out of his mouth. Martin Scorsese then proceeded to film Hill's face swelling in real time.
------------------------

The real Jordan Belfort appears in a brief role in the film's final scene, introducing his cinema stand-in Leonardo DiCaprio. As accurately portrayed, Belfort is now a motivational speaker who previously served 22 months in federal prison for stock fraud.
------------------------

Margot Robbie has revealed that she accidentally slapped Leonardo DiCaprio more violently than she intended to while shooting a scene: she got a little lost in the moment, slapped his face and said "Fuck you". There was a stunned silence on the set and then all of them burst out laughing, but she feared that DiCaprio would sue her for it. She apologized, but he was impressed with her courage and asked her to hit him again.
------------------------

Jonah Hill wore a prosthetic penis when Donnie sees Naomi while masturbating at the party. The surprised reactions from the actors and extras were genuine.
------------------------

Although the real Jordan Belfort was supportive of the film, and accepting of his negative portrayal, he disputed the film's depiction of the end of his second marriage. Although he admitted to having hit his wife during a fight, he claims that it happened earlier during the height of his drug addiction, and that their break-up occurred without incident when he was clean and sober.
------------------------

When Jordan Belfort is interviewed by the F.B.I. agents on his yacht, he hands one of them a list of guests at his wedding. The names on it are actual names of the film's crew members.
------------------------

The gay orgy was one of the scenes that had to be toned down to earn an R rating. V.F.X. supervisor and second unit director Robert Legato shot footage of a chair in a lobby then had artists digitally implement the chair to the shots to avoid displaying the men's genitals.
------------------------

Jonah Hill wanted to eat a real goldfish because he wanted everything to be real. Everyone was working so hard on this movie that he didn't want to be the person who wasn't. Obviously, regulations didn't allow it. They had a real goldfish and three goldfish handlers/wranglers on set. Hill could keep the goldfish in his mouth for three seconds at a time and then they had to put it back in water unharmed.
------------------------

This film shares similarities with Catch Me If You Can (2002), which also stars Leonardo DiCaprio. Both are based on autobiographies written by men who got caught for fraud, and both end with the protagonist begrudgingly cooperating with the FBI.
------------------------

Jordan remarks that Brad died at 35 just like Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. Christine Ebersole, who plays Jordan's mother Leah, played Katerina Cavalieri in Amadeus (1984), a romantic revisionist picture of Mozart's life.
------------------------

AKAs Titles:

Certifications:
Argentina:16 / Australia:R / Brazil:18 / Canada:18A (Alberta/British Columbia/Manitoba/Ontario) / Canada:16+ (Québec) / Finland:K-16 / France:12 / Germany:16 / Hong Kong:III / Hungary:16 / India:A / Ireland:18 / Italy:VM14 / Japan:R18+ / Japan:R15+ (edited version) / Malaysia:(Banned) / Mexico:C / Netherlands:16 / New Zealand:R18 / Philippines:R-18 / Philippines:R-16 (some cinemas) / Portugal:M/16 / Singapore:R21 (cut) / South Korea:18 / Sweden:15 / Switzerland:16 / UK:18 / USA:R