It would have been an amazing Netflix show with this cast and more time, though the movie is still preferred. — Bill Simmons
The embassy takeover would come in episode two or three, like a Homeland season. — Bill Simmons
A whole episode could cover the politics, from the Kyle Chandler flags line to the Ted Kennedy primary, Carter's re-election and Hamilton Jordan. — Chris Ryan
A series version is expected within 10 years. — Chris Ryan
Alan Arkin and John Goodman; Affleck's hair; movie-business in-jokes; the Intelligence Star; the 1979 Iran feel; the heightened escape day; opening credits; soundtrack; Scoot McNairy; 70s thriller vibe and ensembles
Goodman and Arkin end the category; the casting is a 15 out of 10, and once the right people are cast there is little left to do. — Chris Ryan
The six were cast without star power, chosen to resemble the real people shown in the closing credits, while the stars went to Affleck, Arkin, Goodman and the government roles. — Bill Simmons
Goodman has one of the strangest filmographies, working constantly across hits and misses, and is best in dramas where he provides comic relief. — Bill Simmons
The movie-business in-jokes, such as the WGA line, hold up. — Bill Simmons
The Intelligence Star, an award with no ceremony that must be handed back immediately, is a favorite concept and is joked about as a Ringer podcast award for 2021. — Bill Simmons
Affleck breaks out his Good Will Hunting wistful half-smile when receiving the Intelligence Star. — Bill Simmons
It is unclear where the Iran scenes were shot, but the film feels like 1979, helped by cutting in news footage. — Chris Ryan
The decision to make the escape day far more tense holds up, though think pieces say the real departure was easy. — Chris Ryan
The hosts say Affleck was upfront about taking liberties and that the bazaar confrontation and the plane chase did not happen, and Zero Dark Thirty drew more trouble by presenting itself as closer to documentary. — Chris Ryan
Movies based on a true story should be watched for the story, not history; even Spotlight changed things, and the hosts say Arkin's character is a merger of real people. — Bill Simmons
The opening credit sequence and a soundtrack of four bangers, including Dance the Night Away and When the Levee Breaks, are praised despite a song that came out too late. — Bill Simmons
Song-year accuracy matters only if a film goes all in; still, the anachronistic song made one host think it was 1982. — Bill Simmons
Scoot McDerry is incredible as the only real foil to Affleck, though the constant doubting invites a shut-up. — Chris Ryan
His career is judged worse than it should have been; he could have had a Gandolfini-style leading turn, and his name may have hurt him. — Bill Simmons
"I myself jerk off at least twice a day"; "There's no nobility in poverty"; "Sell me this pen"; "Pick up the phone and start dialing"; "Fun coupons"; "I ask them to judge me on my losers because I have so few"; "I'm never eating at Benny Hanna again"; "You had to deal with the golf course people too"; "Risk is what keeps us young"; "Telephone fucking terrorists"
About 1200 words of quotes were pasted but it will not go on too long; the entire McConaughey jerking-off speech is the quote, played as a clip, 'feed the geese' and 'mustard shit' included; it is loved because it is a fake Robert Downey Jr. performance, free-associative, hyper-intelligent but completely illogical word vomit.
Not every scumbag line needs repeating, but 'there's no nobility in poverty', a pull from Wall Street, and 'I have been a rich man and I have been a poor man and I choose rich every fucking time' are the kind of lines weaponized by the movie; the opening lines about the middle class, two accountants in Bayside and $49 million being three shy of a million a week are read.
'Sell me this pen' is the famous one; the 'are you behind on your credit card bills, good, pick up the phone and start dialing' speech and 'deal with your problems by becoming rich'.
Leo's 'lions and tigers and bears' after the hit of crack; 'fun coupons' thrown at Kyle Chandler, who has not been repped much; that scene has the moment where you want him to stop making it worse, and fun coupons itself is a little over the top.
The AeroTine (as transcribed) pitch in the Long Island office, 'I never ask my clients to judge me on my winners, I ask them to judge me on my losers because I have so few', is a favorite because it finally shows the character being great at the thing he is supposedly great at, the kid with the lemonade stand marking up candy, with the hand gestures and everyone in the background mattering as much as DiCaprio.
'I'm never eating at Benny Hanna again' (as transcribed), the golf-course-people and Greek-tragedy rant with 'you had to pay them in cash with your hands' and the wine connoisseur turned landscape architect played as a clip; 'show me a pay stub for $72,000'; Aunt Emma's 'risk is what keeps us young' as a tidy tagline for the movie; 'you'd be telephone fucking terrorists'.
Asked for more, the addressed host adds the massive heart attack at 35, same age Mozart died, the Sea Otter who sold meat and weed introduction, 'you're free now, run free', 'I'm not gonna let someone else fuck my cousin', and the O'Doul's and baking-powder exchange that ends with 'it sucks, man'. — Chris Ryan
The theme of wealth as an incurable pox; the narrated asides; the idea that not having wealth is also unacceptable; the soundtrack (disputed); the unreliable narration and fourth-wall breaking; Margot Robbie
The serious opener: the theme of wealth as an incurable pox that destroys life from the inside out, or at least that being motivated only by money is aging well.
The asides age best: the man who married the girl they had all had their way with and then killed himself; Brad's heart attack at 35, just like Mozart; the financial explanations Jordan yada-yadas because you don't give a shit, which recalls the way Trump talks, with a bragging flourish at the end telling you that you are too stupid to need to know, an attitude that has clearly resonated.
Related is the idea that not having wealth is also unacceptable, seen when Kyle Chandler sits on the subway at the end after getting his man; Scorsese and DiCaprio are wealthy and know life is easier with money, so the theme is how you get it and whether you are happy with what you chose, more nuanced than these guys suck.
The film feeds the appetite for lots of characters and actors; Favreau is good at these side roles; the investigation took ten years and Belfort could have just paid a fine and stepped down from Stratton Oakmont, the Favreau and Reiner scene where he tells them what they want to hear while clearly not caring, and when a rich man goes to prison he does not really go to prison.
The last scenes with Robbie's character are played starker to show how evil he is, he beats up his wife, and he still gets white-collar jail, tennis and speaking fees; there is an amazing dissonance between Belfort being all about this movie, even cropping up in the cameo, and the conclusion portraying him as an awful violent person.
What is real is debated since he has denied things; Belfort and the ex-wife both live in Manhattan Beach, where a host jogged past his house; the fines he was supposed to pay are debatable; the ending may be a way to remind you this guy did awful shit, whereas the international flight where he wakes up seatbelted is played as a carnival montage; the end is the crash, with a stock metaphor about risk, bad decisions and hurting people, precise while feeling loose.
The soundtrack is written down as aging best but the dissenter, named on air, holds that it never aged for him; the unreliable narrator and talking-to-camera device, usually considered a crutch, is essential here to be inside his brain, like Rounders without Matt Damon; The Office comparison is floated and doubted; the Lamborghini and the head-on-the-Expressway sell of the rule-breaking early is impressive writing.
'Did you guys see that?' after the plane crash brings the audience in and questions his perception without making a show of it, and the film moves on immediately.
Margot Robbie's discovery and where she now sits in the Hollywood firmament; the 'we're not going to be friends' line puts her in control of the courtship; she handles emotional desperation and goes toe to toe, 'who are you, a fucking owl'; the Venice fight with the water thrown in his face while he shimmies about his body is forgotten for the scene category, and the 'stop flexing your muscles' clip is played.
The tryout story: an unknown reading with DiCaprio, told to kiss him after the screaming, she slapped him and screamed fuck you instead, and Scorsese's reaction was that's the one; she wanted to take a risk, though the story may not be true.
