The Wolf Of Wall Street (18)

There's two things that need saying about The Wolf Of Wall Street before we start - first, no wolves are featured; second, it's three hours long.

Three hours. Three. Whole. Hours.

And it feels it two. Suddenly The Hobbitsis could qualify for a short film award.

And the length of the film is an important factor here - and not just because of what else you could do in that time (drive to Scotland from my house for example).

It's because - at twice the length of a 'normal' film - there is a point in Wolf where it suddenly feels like another movie. And it comes half way through.

The shift in tone is so marked, I actually sat up. And I kept waiting for it to return to the brash, loud, busy glorious mess of the first half.

Only it didn't.

Which was a shame, because the first half is a blast.

Telling the story (based on the swindler's own book) of Jordan Belfort, a man who found a way to make a lot of money selling crap stocks, Wolf lifts the lid on how money was being made.

And he made a LOT before the Feds caught up with him.

And that's really what the first half of the film is all about - Belfort's rise up the greasy Wall Street pole.

And even though you know he's a shyster, you kinda like him - which is entirely down to Leonardo DiCaprio's performance.

Mixing laughter with humanity, the corruption of an innocent young man with a dream is both believable and emotional.

Yes, he screws up. Yes, he screws other people. Yes, he snorts and swallows everything he can get his hands on, but because the film is basically shouting PARTY at you, you go with it.

And the tone and feel of the film is great during the first half - it races along, it's loud, everyone shouts, shags, sniffs and snorts their way to making millions at other people's expense.

And then (without giving too much away), a conversation happens on a boat.

And immediately, it all changes.

Scenes are longer, conversations are longer, the pace is slower, and you start to shift in your chair.

The party is over it seems.

While the first half of Wolf is about how to become rich, the second half is about how to stay rich and not get sent to jail.

And here's where the problems arise.

Having warmed to Belfort (even though you know you shouldn't), he becomes unlikeable (again, all credit to Leo for this) - his arrogance coming to the fore.

Which wouldn't be a problem if you were given more to work with on the side of those trying to bring the self-appointed wolf down.

But you aren't.

They're just The Man doing His Job. Yes, you get a glimpse into the character of Agent Denham (played well by Kyle Chandler), but not enough to really root for him.

But then, he's not really in it enough either.

By hanging the whole story on Belfort's exploits, the film is going to stand and fall on how the audience deal with his exploits - and as he never thinks he's doing anything wrong, it gets harder and harder to root for him as the film goes on.

Case in point - there's an accident late on, and I didn't give a monkey's who survived. I was past caring.

I kinda get why it's as long as it is - the excess of the period, the 'gotta have it all - gotta do it all' attitude that went unregulated is mirrored in a film that aims to show you everything without any sense of being edited.

But that doesn't make it a great film (the Oscar nod is baffling when All Is Lost has been ignored).

It's brilliantly performed (the main cast is brilliant, and Joanna Lumley's in it), and well filmed, but in trying to capture the excesses of one man, something is lost.

There are judgements on Wall Street and officials, but these are handled so lightly as to not really trouble the overall themes - which are, that with money, you can do what you want.

Which may be the point director Martin Scorsese was trying to make - but it would have felt less grubby if he'd made it clear that was a negative rather than a positive.