When the real Jordan Belford saw the new movie based on his life in the late 1980s, he was shocked at how accurately his thoughts were portrayed, even some of the things he didn’t include in his book, “To see it on film like that, with someone that did such a good job, I literally, I felt myself sweating at certain points,” he told an interviewer. This goes to show what a great job Leonardo Dicaprio did with his portrayal of Belford in the new movie The Wolf Of Wall Street, which is very different from a lot of movies out there. Not only is it based on a real life situation, but what happens in the movie is only some of what the real Belford went through. The movie shows what Belford experienced while he was on his way to making millions , as a stockbroker in the 1980s. He was involved in crimes and corruption, also being investigated by the federal government. Throughout the movie, the director showed bits (through acting) of when Belford was being investigated by the FBI which was being played by Kyle Chandler.
The film features a lot of adult content such as drugs, nudity and strong language. The movie begins with Belford getting hired and having lunch with his boss, who basically tells him that the best way to survive on Wall Street is by doing drugs and hiring prostitutes. He embraces this lifestyle of making money, doing cocaine, and clubbing with his boss, but the company shuts down and he is left jobless.
What was amazing about the rest of this movie is that Jordan Belford went to a new company, after the first one he worked in was shut down, that was basically worthless and sold shares to people like plumbers and garbage men conning them, for thousands of dollars getting 50% out of the sales. All the other people around him didn’t know how he was selling so many things. Eventually, he opened up his own business with his hometown friends, operating out of a garage. He taught his workers how to sound professional over the phone while selling.The amount of space and workers grew as time went by because what he was teaching his workers was working with their clients and they were making “more money than they even knew what to do with.”
This movie is a very good movie because it shows what an actual person went through and it didn’t end with such a simple“happily ever after.” Instead, the ending shows that Jordan Belford moved on from his stockbroker life and his past, but is still teaching/talking about it. He didn’t end up with the same millions he had and in my opinion he kind of humbled himself down.
Critics had a lot of mixed opinions about this movie. Some said that the movie was too long and didn’t need three hours to get to the point of the story, that the same things happened throughout the movie but with different crops(girls, drugs).
Others said it was a hilarious movie, and it was! Leonardo Dicaprio did a great job at playing the role since he is more known for the roles that usually have a more romantic twist such as in Titanic and The Great Gatsby.