In between passion projects, Scorsese just seems to be able to deliver a supremely entertaining film each decade, without fail. You have Goodfellas in the 90s, The Departed in the 00s, and this decade's Scorsese blockbuster was The Wolf of Wall Street.
For whatever reason, people didn't really "get" this movie upon release. A lot of more sensitive-minded individuals derided it for glorifying toxic masculinity, and dudebros likewise loved it for the wrong reasons. I think viewers are now starting to understand that the movie is pretty obviously an over-the-top satire of masculine finance culture--and it's making fun of that Wall Street lifestyle more than it's romanticizing it.
Anyway, The Wolf of Wall Street is three hours of really fun tomfoolery that feels like it's only an hour and a half. Jonah Hill steals the show, in my opinion, but the rest of the performances are phenomenal as well. Add that to Scorsese's trademark rock 'n roll directing style, and you have one of the most purely entertaining and quotable films of the generation.
I like the movie a good deal, but it does spend a lot of time focusing on the good times. You get to the end of the movie and feel like, "that was totally worth it". ---
Donny: Are they gonna hurt us, Walter? Walter: No, Donny. These men are cowards.
