One of the keys to Martin Scorsese's longevity as a filmmaker - beyond the fact that he is an absolute, unquestionable genius - is the fact that he's always been able to surprise us. Over the course of his 40 year-plus career he's told the stories of both gangsters and Jesus Christ. He's made us laugh with movies like The King of Comedy and thoroughly shocked us with movies like Raging Bull and Taxi Driver. He is the filmmaker who made both Hugo and The Departed. We'll always be in line when a new Scorsese movie comes out, but after watching the first trailer for The Wolf of Wall Street I'm ready to start standing in line now...and the movie doesn't come out until November.
I'm not entirely sure what I expected from Scorsese with this project, but it looks as though he's created something ridiculously explosive and stylish. This movie looks to be a pure celebration of everything the '80s had to offer in terms of excess, and that was a whole lot. I'm sure there's a very dramatic side to this movie where Leonardo DiCaprio's Jordan Belfort is faced with a moral crisis and eventually has to pay up for all of the sins he has committed, but I'd honestly watch two hours of the character flaunting his money and tossing around little people at the office.
I think what I enjoy most about this trailer, however, is how free spirited it's letting DiCaprio be. Late last year Quentin Tarantino's Django Unchained helped prove that the actor can be absolutely brilliant if let off the chain to chew the scenery a bit, and Scorsese seems to have harnessed a similar energy from him. The confidence is amazing, and I can't wait to watch him repeatedly shatter the fourth wall. It looks to be different from anything the star has done with the director before, and I can't wait to see the full result.
In addition to the trailer, Apple has also shared the first teaser poster, which I'm sad to say is fairly bland. You can check it out below.
Based on the book of the same name by Jordan Belfort (yes, this is a true story) and adapted by Terence Winter, The Wolf of Wall Street takes us back to the 80s as a New York stockbroker (DiCaprio) experiences the highs that comes with incredible fortune, and the lows that come with being a part of a securities fraud case. As seen in the preview, the movie has an amazing supporting cast that includes Jonah Hill, Matthew McConaughey, Jon Favreau, Kyle Chandler, Rob Reiner, and Jean Dujardin. Look for the film in theaters on November 15th.
