Coming late to the party, as due to unexpected events, I didn't see "Wolf" to just recently, so to make up for delay, I quickly saw it 2X
Personally, for me, with the 2nd viewing all of the pieces of the proverbial puzzle came together, and , like blogger Sasha Stone, it became my #1 film of the year with a bullet
Below are just some of my personal perceptions of the film ,and as anyone who has posted with me for any amount of times knows, I'm a long winded Peanut
A. Regarding the idea of Scorsese somehow glorifying the antics of Jordan Belfort /not punishing him enough I have two reactions :
#1 As some of you may recall when the project was first announced, I read both of Belfort's books, and I stated in our discussions at the time ( which are posted on the older board ) that the storyline reminded me a great deal of the Frank Abagnale /Catch Me if You Can narrative
A young man who has a natural born talent to sell who misuses that talent in illegal dealings which eventually brings notice of the FBI ,which leads to his eventual arrest and serving prison times for his misdeeds. Then years later we find this same man now using his natural born talent to sell to create for himself a legal/lucrative career.
The reason I bring this comparison up is that , like his pal, not only did Spielberg in the film version not focus on Abagnale's numerous victims, but he presented Abagnale's selling himself as airline pilot, doctor , and lawyer all to scam others as a humor filled/ sorta Huck Finnish adventure , and as I recall, no critics or movie goers were critical of his doing so , instead all seemed to enjoyed his entertaining film
And nor was there any scene in the movie where Abagnale professed great sorrow/regret for the scams he had pulled ; he only stopped doing them when he was caught
Also I don't recall at the time critics/moviegoers being overly concerned that impressionable young people would attempt to 'imitate' Abagnale's con games , yet, as time has shown , many have , and when they do references have been made to the similarity to their actions and Leo's Frank Abagnale character's exploits.
Yet, even when said articles have appeared , I don't recall anyone taking the film to issue for these seeming 'copycat' incidents ??
The differing reaction did make me personally feel that the reaction had nothing to do with the storyline/punishment metered out to the film's protagonist, but rather the fact that Scorsese wrapped his real con story in a reality based setting of cursing and nudity , whereas Spielberg wrapped his con story in a Disney type setting in which Abaganale's sexual encounter with a high class call girl showed not one piece of clothing being removed
#2 My second reaction to the voiced complaints that Scorsese's presentation left Belfort off too easy, was that it wasn't that they were annoyed that Belfort didn't suffer enough but rather that Scorsese , with his final shot of the seminar audience , inferred that 'we' were 'partners' with the Belfort's of the world because we functioned as the vital 2nd component that any salesman , no matter how talented must have, for a 'sale' = a buyer.
Like others here , I felt that "Wolf" wasn't really about the subject of Wall Street at all , but rather about :
#1 The fact of how many of us , like Jordan, are in an endless pursuit of that which we believe to be the most magical/powerful drug of all = money .
That we believe that money can, not only help us obtain large homes/ fancy cars, it has the power to make us more attractive , younger, more appealing to the opposite sex , an even more than anything we believe that if we had this powerful /magical drug that we will finally know happiness
For many of us , money is our lemmons
#2 The fact that ,
even though we may not consider ourselves as salesman like Jordan, we are infact
are . That every day we are 'selling' something of ourselves in the pursuit of said money, and in some cases , like Jordan at the end of the day when we look at the man/woman in the mirror we realize that we may have started off selling something like worthless stocks or locks of regrowable hair , but by the end, we had sold our morality, self respect , loved ones and friends .
The first time I watched the movie, my focus was on the larger than life salesman in the room = Jordan Belfort and what he was selling in his pursuit of the money drug , but the 2nd time I watched the movie, I realized that everyone around Jordan in those scenes was 'selling' something
The assistant who agrees to have her head shaved in the opening scenes. Why did she subject herself to feeling humiliated as others around hooted and hollered like animals as her hair was shaved off ? Because she was willing to 'sell' her self respect in pursuit of money to buy breast implants.
The various men/women who worked in the Stratton Oakmont offices , be they brokers or clerical staff , all knew that what Jordan and his merry band of fools were doing wasn't entirely legal , but they were willing to sell their 'integrity /morality' because working at Stratton paid well.
The various strippers /call girls ,who entertained Jordan and his cohorts in and out of the office, were willing to selling their sex /companionship for money.
The lawyers who represented Jordan were selling their legal expertise/morality because Jordan was willing to pay their high per hour rates
The staff that worked for Jordan, be it as his helicopter pilot or the captain of his yacht were willing to sell their morality by being willing to turn a blind eye to Jordan's excessive drug use and the fact that his actions often put, not only his , but the lives of others in danger because Jordan paid well.
Even on a more personal level with Jordan's two wives.
Yes, Denise did question Jordan in one scene as to were they not getting rich at other's expenses , but as one may note , months later when the Forbes writer expresses the same concerns about what Jordan is doing, Denise is still sitting there in their penthouse apt paid for by Jordan's ill gained money. She was selling her integrity/morality , like the typical mob wife, who may express concerns about how her husband is maintaining their life style but she is not 'concerned' enough to give up what only money can buy. We don't see her leave Jordan because of 'what' he does but rather because of 'who' he does .
With Jordan's second wife we meet a woman who is quite accomplished at selling her beauty and sexuality to snare men who will keep her in designer clothes /shoes so they can keep her in their bed.
And , last but not least, be it the people who bought the penny stocks over the phone or the people who sat in Jordan's seminar audience we saw people selling their 'trust' not to a person they know well , but rather to a complete stranger because he is offering them the possibility of making more money.
That this was at it's heart a story about the 'selling' we all do in the pursuit of money , and thus I understood why the one musical refrain of the film that stayed with me was Cannonball Adderley 's " Mercy, Mercy,Mercy Please have mercy on me"
As that is what Scorsese was warning us of : That if we ,as a people , didn't open up our eyes to what we were 'selling' every day in pursuit of our 'lemmon' that we , too, like Jordan Belfort would wake up one day to discover we had 'sold' our very 'soul'