Scorsese unleashes a furious, yet exquisitely controlled, kinetic energy, complete with a plunging and soaring camera, mercurial and conspicuous special effects, counterfactual scenes, subjective fantasies, and swirling choreography on a grand scale.
If one watches this film and thinks Scorsese has crafted it to exculpate rather than expose the behavior of Jordan Belfort ... well, one has rather missed the point.
For three hours the movie operates at a ridiculous comedic pitch. You never forget you're at the circus. You never lose site of the lawlessness, the reckless pleasure, the sheer lunacy and lack of regulation.
Scorsese is fascinated by procedure, by drawing back the curtain and showing us how things happen, though he keeps the picture nimble and entertaining enough to avoid burying himself in the minutiae.
How half-brained masculine and economic mentalities are channeled to a mutual, logical, terrible climax in one of the year's more terrifying final shots is what's truly essential.
DiCaprio has hinted before that comedy might be his natural calling -- think of Catch Me If You Can -- but his energy here is not just fun, it's discovery.