Martin Scorsese’s The Wolf of Wall Street is back in the spotlight, and somehow, it’s wilder than ever. The 2013 biopic is currently sitting at #7 on Pluto TV’s most-watched list, reminding us all that, yes, America is still weirdly obsessed with stories about charismatic white-collar criminals. And if you missed it the first (or fifth) time around, now is your chance to watch the chaos unfold – for free. Some biopics want you to admire their subject. This one wants you to question your soul.
The Wolf of Wall Street follows Jordan Belfort, played by Leonardo DiCaprio, a real-life stockbroker who built a fraudulent empire by scamming rich people, blowing money on drugs, and turning the stock market into his personal Vegas. And somehow, we can’t look away. Maybe that’s the point. Belfort doesn’t just chase the American Dream – he injects it directly into his bloodstream. “That’s the movie,” Martin Scorsese once said, referring to the now-iconic lunch scene between DiCaprio and Matthew McConaughey. “It’s got to go fast, fast, fast. It has to be speed, and then, stop.”
That line became the blueprint. Scorsese was in his 70s when he made the film, but it moves like it was directed by someone half his age and twice as caffeinated. From that moment on, the tone was set for the film – it would be high-octane, morally repulsive, and impossible to ignore. Like all Oscar bait?
Is ‘The Wolf of Wall Street’ Any Good?
Of course it is, if you don’t mind being horrified. Scorsese had already cemented his legacy long before Wolf of Wall Street, but this film feels like him flexing in the fourth quarter. Clocking in at three hours, it moves like it’s being chased. The ensemble is stacked: Margot Robbie, Jonah Hill, Jon Bernthal, Kyle Chandler, Cristin Milioti, Jon Favreau, Rob Reiner, and more. But it’s DiCaprio who commands every frame. His performance – ferocious, pathetic, magnetic – earned him an Oscar nomination, but somehow not a win (don’t worry, he got his Revenant statue later). The film raked in $407 million worldwide and holds a solid 79% on Rotten Tomatoes. It also picked up five Academy Award nominations, including Best Picture.
Whether you’re watching for the first time or just want to relive Jonah Hill eating a goldfish, The Wolf of Wall Street is streaming free on Pluto TV right now. Just don’t watch it with a Quaalude.