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Melissa Cahue
Mr. Newman
English 101: Rhetoric
22 October 2014
Chasing the American Dream
Martin Scorseses The Wolf of Wall Street is thrilling, raunchy, and overall brilliant; 180
minutes of drugs, sex, and money. It is based on the memoir of Jordan Belfort, a Long Island
stockbroker, who made a fortune off of scamming investors by selling them penny stocks. The
film is fast-paced as it tells the story and depicts the theme of the pursuit of a corrupt American
dream. Winning the AFI Movie of the Year award in 2013, it proves to be one of Scorseses
greatest works. Even though, Christopher Orr and Richard Brody have a different structure in
their reviews, they both agree that the film is successful because of the style and strong actor
performances.
Both Christopher Orr and Richard Brody agree that The Wolf of Wall Streets intensity
keeps the audience entertained from the beginning to the end. In order to achieve this type of
intensity, Martin Scorsese uses different styles to capture the idea of the film. According to
both critics, the use of first-person narration to show Jordan Belforts perspective captures the
autobiographers discursive vigor (Brody). Brody is impressed with how Belfort continues to
narrate the action while it is happening, creating a better understanding of the main purpose of
the film by breaking the fourth wall. From first-person narration and the choice of actors to the
amusing effects and filthy jokes, the movie plays like a masters course in cinematic technique
(Orr). In addition, Brody explains, The movie has a sharply rhythmic swing, like a great jazz

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band in flat-out rumble, thanks to Scorseses stylistic inventiveness, this causes Scorsese to
develop an exciting film that catches the audience's attention every second of the movie.
Along with Scorseses intriguing styles, he thoughtfully puts together a list of cast that
successfully portrays their character. Richard Brody and Christopher Orr both agree that the
strong acting is a factor in the success of the movie. Brody claims, Scorsese has done more
than just put together a finely meshed ensemble; he brings together flamboyant soloists who
combine emotional inspiration with emblematic physical and vocal specificity. Each actor goes
above and beyond to express their character. Moreover, Richard Brody goes on to describe
each of the supporting characters, and their impact on the film. However, Richard Brody and
Christopher Orr were especially fascinated by Leonardo DiCaprios performance. DiCaprios
enthusiasm throughout the film makes him mesmerizingly over-the-top (Orr). According to
Richard Brody, Leonardo DiCaprio, playing Belfort, gives the first fully satisfying, elbows-out,
uninhibited screen performance that Ive seen from him. The choice of actors and the roles they
play help in making the film as exciting as possible.
Even though, Richard Brody and Christopher Orr agree on the success of the movie and
how it was accomplished, the structure of their reviews differ. In Richard Brodys review, he
begins by giving a short summary of the film and his view on it. The summary of the film is then
followed by the factors that make this film one of Martin Scorseses greatest films. Brody goes
in depth about specific techniques and styles Martin Scorsese used in order to achieve the theme
and the impeccable actor performances. Instead of focusing on the movie as a whole, Brody
mainly discusses the type of person Jordan Belfort was and the purpose in making this movie. By
reading Brodys review, one cannot help but feel enthusiastic about watching the movie. Unlike
Richard Brodys review, Christopher Orrs focuses on the plotline of the movie. Throughout the

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review, Orr describes the background of the story and summarizes the movie as a whole; he
briefly describes the characters and techniques Martin Scorsese used to make the film different
from the rest. In addition, Orrs review differs from Brody because he uses a different type of
language, making it not as formal as Richard Brodys. Christopher Orrs review has a more
vulgar approach and describes The Wolf of Wall Street as being Scorseses latest is a greatno,
a fucking greatmovie movie. In spite of the fact that both critics have different structures in
their reviews, they both successfully reach out to the audience and prove that The Wolf of Wall
Street is a movie worth watching.
All in all, Richard Brody and Christopher Orr praise the work of Martin Scorsese, The
Wolf of Wall Street. Both critics elaborate about certain types of techniques Martin Scorsese used
to not only make the film entertaining, but so that the audience could recognize the purpose of
the the film as well. Moreover, they agree that the choice of actors for each role impacted the
movie because of how great each actor performed. Although in Richard Brodys review, he
focuses on different aspects of the movie and how it all came together; on the other hand,
Christopher Orr mainly summarizes the movie, and spends a short amount of time recognizing
the purpose of the film and why it became extraordinarily successful.

Works Cited
Brody, Richard. The Wild, Brilliant Wolf of Wall Street. New Yorker 24 Dec. 2013:
n. pag. Newyorker.com. Web. 21 Oct. 2014.

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Orr, Christopher. "The Vulgar Genius of The Wolf of Wall Street." Theatlantic.com. Atlantic
Monthly Group, 25 Dec. 2013. Web. 21 Oct. 2014.