I think that was the ultimate point of WoWS. It was making fun of the characters and their terribleness, they actually were shallow, inhuman pieces of crap who didn't even think about their victims.
Not that it makes it a fantastic movie but it's a pretty funny romp. I wouldn't be happy if Jordan Belfort got the biopic treatment anyway, he doesn't deserve it.
No one loves Scorsese more than me (well...maybe his wife, and Leo DiCaprio) but WoWS left me cold. Impressed by the standard Scorsese production quality, yes, but totally unmoved by anyone in the story. If I'm going to go on a three-hour journey with a cast of characters, I have to give a **** about somebody, and the complete lack of redeeming qualities of everyone onscreen was a fatal flaw. I accept the argument that the film INTENDED them to be self-absorbed dicks, but it's still a built-in limitation. No story can be as effective when the characters are painted with thick, unsubtle strokes. In fact, the main story of any film is the journey of the characters. If they go nowhere, neither does the film. In that respect, WoWS went nowhere very fast and in style.
Contrast that with
Her, a surprisingly smart, thought-provoking story that was rich with character and depth and feeling. I know we're talking apples and oranges, but while WoWS was a sporadic sugar-rush,
Her remains with me on a deeper level months after seeing it. A closer comparison of unlikeable characters would be American Hustle or -- one of my all-time faves -- 1997's Boogie Nights, both featuring a slate of dumb, selfish people who were more interesting because they actually developed/changed/learned from beginning to end.
And yet, having said all that I still think Leo DiCaprio should've won the Oscar. Because when you isolate him from the film, his performance was the most riveting. Unfortunately, in the context of the film he was paddling madly to keep the ship moving.
