The Wolf of Wall Street is the second enormously popular film I've been to in two days. Of course, this time of year, as I've said before, is great for cinema, with all the releases in advance of awards ceremonies. And it makes a nice change for me to go to popular films!
The cinema was more thronged than I've ever seen it. There were queues at all the ticket machines, at the box office, horrendous queues at the concession stands. I arrived just before the scheduled film time, and knowing that the film runs to three hours, decided that beforehand was a good time to visit the toilet - which, at least, didn't have queues. And then straight into the screen. Screen 1 was packed - I wouldn't advise arriving too late for this film if you want a decent seat. I got a decent seat - until some suit plonked himself in the seat beside me, just before the film started, and opened a packet of crisps. And was slurping from a bottle of something fizzy. Banker, just come from work perhaps, and this was his dinner? I later got the impression he doesn't come to the cinema much anyway, given the way he was splaying his elbows. Just as well there wasn't anyone in the seat on my other side, and I could lean that way..
Right - so to the film. It is.. awesome. It hits you like a juggernaut, right from the start. Based on the autobiography by Jordan Belfort, the stockbroker who was jailed for fraud, it's no morality tale. Indeed, according to Wikipedia, he isn't making great strides towards repaying the people he defrauded. And there's very little remorse in this film. But, as I say, it's based on his story, and this is how he sees things. And it is fantastic fun. Until everything goes to pot. Even then, the tale is so unbelievable that it has to be true.
The partying is riotous. They go crazy in every conceivable way, and some you've probably never thought of. They do an incredible amount of drugs, make an insane amount of money, have a lifestyle you can only gawp at. The film has, apparently, a record number of instances of the word "fuck". They come across as a bunch of guys who managed to find a way to never grow up, and you're secretly rooting for them the whole way, even as you know you shouldn't. Directed and produced by Scorsese, the lead role is taken by Leonardo DiCaprio, who powers his way through this film. He has the presence to carry it - few would. His protégé is played by Jonah Hill, his second wife by Margot Robbie, who also played the unattainable young woman in About Time. Matthew McConaughey does a hilarious star turn as his boss. Kyle Chandler plays the FBI agent out to get him. Even Joanna Lumley shows up as his wife's aunt, whom he uses to smuggle money to Switzerland at one point, out of the FBI's clutches. Yup, half the world wants to be in this film.
Highly recommended - as long as you're not easily offended. Just hold onto your hats. I was glad I hadn't waited until after to go to the toilet - there were queues for that now. And as for whether it's realistic? I overheard the guy who'd been sitting beside me, as we were making our slow way out, compare Belfort's drug use to what he was accustomed to.. slightly different pharmaceutical product, same idea. I hear the bankers of the world are flocking to see this. Who can say whether it's for educational purposes, as a cautionary moral tale, or just to see themselves reflected on screen?
Well! After joining the massing hordes to see the two films I've seen over the last two days, I'm taking a break from film for a change! Tomorrow, I've booked to see a play called The Day Shall Declare It. It's a series of short plays by Tennessee Williams, staged in Marylebone, by a pop-up theatre company, so, with no guarantee that I'd be able to get a ticket at the door - it not being a regular theatre - I said I'd better book. It's a walkthrough performance, staged in different rooms. I like those, they tend to be intimate. And on Thursday, I'm going to something a bit more traditional - a Sondheim revue called Putting It Together, at the St James theatre. That's the one where I make sure to sit on the aisle - I didn't manage to get a cheap, back row seat this time though, but am on the aisle further down. Cheapest tickets available from the venue website.
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