I’m still riding on a high from the viewing of The Wolf of Wall Street. While aware that more than a masterpiece, it is an entertaining romp, I haven’t alternately laughed, expressed disgust, contempt, admiration and felt contrasting emotions in such quick succession in a while at the cinema.
Which, of course, led me on to thinking about Leonardo DiCaprio. Would the movie have been as effective with a different lead actor? I think not – DiCaprio truly made the personality his own, from the expressive grimaces to the impossibly painful/hilarious scene when he is OD’ing on quaaludes.
The thought hit me – when I first saw DiCaprio in What’s Eating Gilbert Grape, back in the early 1990s, the focus was on Johnny Depp as the lead. Next up were The Basketball Diaries (another drug-fuelled fest, come to think of it, albeit in a totally different mood). Again, DiCaprio did well, but his performance was nothing another actor couldn’t have achieved.
Baz Luhrmann’s Romeo+Juliet followed some years later. I adored Luhrmann’s wacky take, the anachronisms and the soundtrack. DiCaprio, once again, looked amazing. But, as far as I (and probably thousands other film-goers) was concerned, this was one actor who was going to get by on his disgustingly-perfect blonde looks.
After Romeo+Juliet, I watched Titanic (puke), so you can hardly blame me for reaching this conclusion. The Man in the Iron Mask was okay, without reaching any grand heights, and then – bam – The Beach happened. The film (and Alex Garland’s original novel) remains one of my favourites. Again, much focus was made on DiCaprio’s good looks, but still. Clearly, something good was happening here.
The Beach opened the floodgates of great cinematography for the actor. Gangs of New York, Catch Me if You Can, The Aviator, The Departed, Blood Diamond, Shutter Island, Inception... you name it, it rocked. From the blonde kid who looked good on camera, DiCaprio became one of the most respected names in Hollywood.
Which I found to be a tad astounding, if I’m to be honest. I loved all the above films, and it is difficult to argue that they’d have been equally successful without DiCaprio.
Yet there was something about the actor that still didn’t convince me. I found his acting slightly formulaic, soulless if you will.
Sometimes, re-watching a favourite movie, it almost felt as though DiCaprio was depicting the same character over and over, changing just the frills according to necessity.
I found his acting slightly formulaic, soulless if you will
Then came The Wolf of Wall Street, and I realised exactly how wrong I had been to dismiss DiCaprio’s success as being the result of the easy luck that led him to become Martin Scorcese’s (and to a certain extent Luhrmann’s) protégé.
Although the role was undeniably scripted precisely with DiCaprio in mind, the actor somehow becomes Jordan Belfort in the film. He successfully makes you hate him, feel pity, contempt, envy... For three solid hours, you can’t think of Jordan Belfort as having anything but DiCaprio’s personality and appearance.
Which is why, when the real Belfort appears in a cameo role towards the end of the movie, I found it rather annoying.
I believe that that Oscar is now well due.
rdepares@timesofmalta.com