The Wolf of Wall Street Review
RYAN: Can we just call it? Scorsese and DiCaprio are the new Burton and Depp.
CAROLINE: Ha. Seriously. They should get a room.
RYAN: Leo’s his muse. It’s cute. And it pays off here. This movie is craymazing.
CAROLINE: I’m dying to see it. But three hours? Does any movie need to be that long?
RYAN: Never. But it is the kind of movie where I enjoyed it so much I couldn’t begin to tell you what, if anything, should be cut out. And reportedly it was originally four hours and ten minutes. It also would have been NC-17 but they shaved a lot off.
CAROLINE: And now it’s R.
RYAN: I still think it could be NC-17 though. And I’m not a prude. There’s so much drug use and sex in this movie I was kinda surprised. It’s all germane to the story but still – it’s way more than you’re accustomed to seeing. Usually there’s just a bit of it in some movies but the drug use here is consistent throughout. It’s like you need to check into rehab after seeing this movie.
CAROLINE: [laughs] Even if you’ve never tried an illegal substance in your life!
RYAN: Exactly. The script is good and it’s such a funny, nouveau riche version of the 80s – especially Jonah Hill’s character. He’s high-lar. His fake teeth, hair, mom jeans and preppy wardrobe is just perfect.
CAROLINE: Stop beating around the bush. How’s Leo?
RYAN: He’s awesome. It’s a great role for him. I love when a movie uses voiceover narration effectively to tell the story and his VO in this movie is perfect. It’s funny that in the same year he played two very different kinds of supa-wealthy men.
CAROLINE: Oh right – Gatsby.
RYAN: Both terrific movies. In Wolf though, he reminded me of a young Jack Nicholson in The Shining.
CAROLINE: How so?
RYAN: His level of intensity matches Jack’s in that film. Leo does a lot of screaming and neck-vein-popping in this movie.
CAROLINE: What about Matt McConaughey?
RYAN: He basically has one scene but it’s great. He’s still very skinny so this must have been filmed around the time he did Dallas Buyers Club.
CAROLINE: Yeah. And the rest of the cast?
RYAN: Margot Robbie is excellent in this. I liked her on the short lived TV series Pan Am so it’s cool to see her in big production. Her confrontation scenes with Leo are genius. And Joanna Lumley, as her aunt, is a scene stealer. She’s known for the BBC show AbFab and she’s terrific.
CAROLINE: She’s very funny. So what’s your bottom line?
RYAN: This movie gives, like, a little bit of an education about the stock market. Leo’s so persuasive, I almost want to go work for him selling stocks. But there’s such a dark side. It’s long and edgy, with super high stakes, not suspenseful but you can’t wait to just see what happens next with these characters. I already wanna see it again.
