A
few months ago my wife and I made the agonizing decision to cut cable
television from our lives. We did this
for many reasons. Primarily we cut it
out because of the cost factor. For as
few channels we watched on a regular basis, it was costing way WAY too
much. We also cut it out because we
found ourselves spending way too much time staring at it and not enough time talking
to each other.
We
are a few months in and have survived without cable television. And yes, we have found ourselves talking and
spending more time with each other. It’s
certainly been a blessing.
In
addition to spending more time with each other, not having cable television has
turned us into movie buffs. In the past,
we would go to the movie theater one, maybe two times a year. We’d rent movies only a handful of
times.
Now
though, we’re able to catch up on a lot of movies that we’ve wanted to see in
the past. It’s great because our local
library carries a wide selection of movies that we can rent for no cost at
all.
This
past week I rented “The Wolf of Wall Street” starring Leonardo DiCaprio and
Jonah Hill. It’s the story of New York
stockbroker, Jordan Belfort, and his journey from the American dream to
corporate greed. He starts out selling penny stocks and honesty to IPOs but excess
achievement and wealth in his early twenties as founder of the brokerage firm
Stratton Oakmont warranted Belfort the title "The Wolf of Wall
Street." Temptations were for the taking and the threat of authority was
irrelevant. For Jordan and his team, modesty was quickly deemed overrated and
more was never enough.
I
knew going into this movie that there would be an insane amount of cursing in
this film, and that didn’t bother me at all.
I was surprised at the overabundance of drug use and excessive sex
scenes though. I understand that it’s
all part of the story but I could’ve done without a lot of it.
The
storyline was enjoyable to follow. To
see Belfort go from an eager, young stockbroker just wanting to be able to
provide for his family to a millionaire, playboy, drug addict is fascinating to
say the least.
My
favorite part of the movie is the lunch scene between DiCaprio and Matthew
McConaughey (playing stockbroker Mark Hanna).
Mark Hanna: The name of the game, moving the money
from the client's pocket to your pocket.
Jordan Belfort: But if you can make your clients money
at the same time it's advantageous to everyone, correct?
Mark Hanna: No.
Hanna
seemed to take Belfort under his wing and introduce him to a side of stock
brokering he never knew existed. This
was where “The Wolf of Wall Street” was actually born in my opinion. I would have loved to see how the Jordan
Belfort character evolved while working with Mark Hanna.
Overall,
I enjoyed “The Wolf of Wall Street”. It
was a captivating storyline that held my attention throughout. On a scale of 1 – 5 I give it a
3. If
there was less cursing/drug use/sex scenes it would have been a 4 for sure.
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