Oscar Predictions: Best Original Song

This year, Oscar nominations will be announced on Thursday, January 16th. As a result, most of the corresponding guilds won’t have announced their picks by then, so I’m making predictions in advance without being able to take those into consideration. I’ll be offering detailed predictions in most of the major categories, saving some of the biggest categories for last.

Last year’s nominees: “Before My Time” (Chasing Ice), “Suddenly” (Les Miserables), “Pi’s Lullaby” (Life of Pi), “Skyfall” (Skyfall), “Everybody Needs a Best Friend” (Ted)

This year’s Golden Globe nominees: “Let It Go” (Frozen), “Atlas” (The Hunger Games: Catching Fire), “Please Mr. Kennedy” (Inside Llewyn Davis), “Ordinary Love” (Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom), and “Sweeter than Fiction” (One Chance).

Other contenders: “The Moon Song” (Her), “Young and Beautiful” (The Great Gatsby), “You Don’t Know What It’s Like” (Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom), “Amen” (All is Lost), “A Little Party Never Killed Nobody” (The Great Gatsby), “In the Middle of the Night” (The Butler)

The rundown: Last year, we got five nominees, and that’s going to happen again this year. Of the Globe list, only “Please Mr. Kennedy” is ineligible. 76 other songs are. It should be noted that the song from the first “Hunger Games” film wasn’t eligible last year, and therefore the tune from the sequel shouldn’t be counted out altogether. It would be hard to ignore the great music from “The Great Gatsby,” and U2 should propel an otherwise less than noticed film to a mention in this category. “The Moon Song” and “You Don’t Know What It’s Like” are gambles of different sorts, but this category has been surprisingly open to strange choices. I’ve been listening to over forty of the seventy-six finalists on repeat, so I’ll have more to say come nominations time and my own awards.

One possible crazy scenario: There could be no odder selection than “The Muslims are Coming,” from the film of the same name. It’s not actually a bad song, but what a weird choice it would be.

Forecasted winner: “Let It Go”

Oscar Predictions: Best Original Score

This year, Oscar nominations will be announced on Thursday, January 16th. I’ll be offering detailed predictions in most of the major categories, saving some of the biggest categories for last.

Last year’s nominees: Anna Karenina, Argo, Life of Pi, Lincoln, Skyfall

This year’s locks: Gravity, 12 Years a Slave

Very likely: Philomena

Possible: All is Lost, Rush, The Book Thief, Saving Mr. Banks, Captain Phillips, Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom

Unlikely: Any of the remaining contenders

The rundown: 114 films are officially eligible for this category this year. There isn’t an egregious snub this year, so we’ll have to save that for Oscar nominations day. Newcomer Steven Price should join veteran Hans Zimmer for their scores of Best Picture rivals Gravity and 12 Years a Slave, respectively. I’m predicting that two surprise nominees for Best Motion Picture – Drama at the Golden Globes that weren’t recognized for their scores, Philomena and Rush, will appear here, from familiar names Alexandre Desplat and Zimmer, once again. Another Globe nominee and Oscar newbie likely to be nominated is Alex Ebert for All is Lost. Golden Globe nominees John Williams (you may have heard of him) and Alex Heffes may be honored for The Book Thief and Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom, respectively, while Saving Mr. Banks (Thomas Newman) and the enthralling score from Captain Phillips (Henry Jackman) could also contend. I’m sure this category has a surprise or two in store this year.

One possible crazy scenario: An action piece like Ender’s Game scores a nod.

Forecasted winner: I think it will be Gravity.

Oscar Predictions: Best Animated Feature

This year, Oscar nominations will be announced on Thursday, January 16th. I’ll be offering detailed predictions in most of the major categories, saving some of the biggest categories for last.

Last year’s nominees: Brave, Frankenweenie, Wreck-It Ralph

This year’s locks: Frozen

Very likely: The Wind Rises

Possible: Ernest and Celestine, Monsters University, Despicable Me 2, The Croods, Epic

Unlikely: Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2, A Letter to Momo, O Apostolo

The rundown: There are nineteen films officially eligible in this category. They include the three Golden Globe nominees: Frozen, the surest thing in this race, The Croods, and Despicable Me 2. Both could feasibly get in, though I think the latter may actually have the edge as a crowd pleaser. Monsters University was unexpectedly snubbed and may be able to slide in here. Two foreign films, The Wind Rises and Ernest and Celestine, may be able to follow in the footsteps of “A Cat in Paris” and “Chico and Rita” to be nominated. The chances for Epic and Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2 are less likely, but they would be easy choices if Oscar voters don’t want to look beyond their native country. There are other possibilities, such as A Letter to Momo or O Apostolo, but I don’t see that happening.

One possible crazy scenario: A bunch of sequels get in, including Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2, Despicable Me 2, and Planes.

Forecasted winner: It better be Frozen.

Oscar Predictions: Best Documentary

This year, Oscar nominations will be announced on Thursday, January 16th. I’ll be offering detailed predictions in most of the major categories, saving some of the biggest categories for last.

Last year’s nominees: Five Broken Cameras, The Gatekeepers, How to Survive a Plague, The Invisible War, Searching for Sugar Man

This year’s contenders: The Act of Killing, The Armstrong Lie, Blackfish, The Crash Reel, Cutie and the Boxer, Dirty Wars, First Cousin Once Removed, God Loves Uganda, Life According to Sam, Pussy Riot: A Punk Prayer, The Square, Stories We Tell, Tim’s Vermeer, Twenty Feet from Stardom, Which Way is the Front Line from Here?

The rundown: This category has been winnowed down to fifteen finalists already. This year, I’ve seen four of the finalists: Blackfish, The Square, Stories We Tell, and Dirty Wars. I’m predicting three to make the cut, for their spotlights on whales, Egypt, and family, respectively, while the war exposé should get shafted. Predicted to join them are The Act of Killing and Twenty Feet from Stardom, both of which will be on DVD before nominations are announced. The Armstrong Lie might bump one of them, as could Cutie and the Boxer or another choice from the rest of the slate. Chime in if you’ve seen any of the other films!

One possible crazy scenario: Sarah Polley’s Stories We Tell gets snubbed.

Forecasted winner: I’ll go with Stories We Tell.

Oscar Predictions: Best Adapted Screenplay

This year, Oscar nominations will be announced on Thursday, January 16th. As a result, most of the corresponding guilds won’t have announced their picks by then, so I’m making predictions in advance without being able to take those into consideration. I’ll be offering detailed predictions in most of the major categories, saving some of the biggest categories for last.

Last year’s nominees: Argo, Beasts of the Southern Wild, Life of Pi, Lincoln, Silver Linings Playbook

This year’s locks: 12 Years a Slave

Very likely: Captain Phillips, Before Midnight

Possible: Philomena, The Wolf of Wall Street, Blue is the Warmest Color, August: Osage County, Lone Survivor

Unlikely: Short Term 12, The Book Thief

The rundown: The film with the best shot at a nomination here is the one that wasn’t eligible for the WGA: 12 Years a Slave. It will likely be joined by Captain Phillips and Before Midnight, which will succeed the second film in that series as a nominee here. I’m not too keen on the chances of WGA-nominated August: Osage County, expecting that film to be generally unrecognized by Oscar voters, and I’m not too sure about Lone Survivor either. Philomena wasn’t eligible for WGA either, so count that one in here, and the fifth WGA choice, The Wolf of Wall Street is a good bet in this category more here than anywhere else. That’s a shame for Blue is the Warmest Color, which I’d love to see here but can’t quite imagine, and, as in Best Actress, it will be battling Short Term 12 for an underdog spot. The Book Thief is also possible.

One possible crazy scenario: Despite zero buzz and the fact that it still hasn’t been released, Labor Day scores a nod.

Forecasted winner: How could it not be 12 Years a Slave?

Oscar Predictions: Best Original Screenplay

This year, Oscar nominations will be announced on Thursday, January 16th. I’ll be offering detailed predictions in most of the major categories, saving some of the biggest categories for last.

Last year’s nominees: Amour, Django Unchained, Flight, Moonrise Kingdom, Zero Dark Thirty

This year’s locks: American Hustle, Nebraska, Her

Very likely: Blue Jasmine

Possible: Fruitvale Station, Inside Llewyn Davis, Dallas Buyers Club, The Butler

Unlikely: Enough Said, Gravity, Saving Mr. Banks

The rundown: WGA’s slate included three likely nominees from familiar names in this race: American Hustle, penned by David O. Russell (and newbie Eric Warren Singer), Her, from Spike Jonze, and Blue Jasmine, from Woody Allen, who would mark his sixteenth nomination in this race. Nebraska, by Bob Nelson, is also probable. I’m not as confident about the fifth film cited by the WGA, which has experienced a surge lately, Dallas Buyers Club. I think that film has been praised too much, and it won’t see as much Oscar success. Two choices that haven’t been doing too well are Inside Llewyn Davis and The Butler, both of which are very possible, as is Enough Said, which might also earn an acting nod for James Gandolfini and would be well-suited for this race. Gravity has the worst shot here out of every single race, but it could still pop up. I’m pulling for what I worry will be the only spot of recognition for Fruitvale Station, a very deserving entry that would be a welcome inclusion in this category.

One possible crazy scenario: After being ignored most of awards season, a different Matthew McConaughey film - Mud - makes a comeback.

Forecasted winner: It would be wonderful if it was Her.

Golden Globe Winner Predictions: Best Screenplay – Motion Picture

The competition: David O. Russell and Eric Warren Singer (American Hustle), Spike Jonze (Her), Bob Nelson (Nebraska), Steve Coogan and Jeff Pope (Philomena), and John Ridley (12 Years a Slave)

For your information: The only returning nominee in this race is Russell, who was nominated last year for “Silver Linings Playbook.” Jonze has been nominated before in the directing race, as has Russell. Comedies rarely win this award, though “Midnight in Paris” did win two years ago. All five films in this race are nominated for the appropriate Best Motion Picture prize.

Who should win? “Her” or “12 Years a Slave”

Who will win? It’s hard to know without a clear frontrunner, but I’ll bet on Her over “12 Years a Slave.”

Golden Globe Winner Predictions: Best Foreign Language Film

The competition: Blue is the Warmest Color (France), The Great Beauty (Italy), The Hunt (Denmark), The Past (Iran), The Wind Rises (Japan)

For your information: It’s hard to tabulate statistics by country since multiple countries are sometimes credited for a given film. Productions credited to Denmark, France, Iran, and Japan have all won within the past ten years, and Italy has been nominated a few times too. There are two returning names to this category, Danish director Thomas Vinterberg, previously nominated for “The Celebration” in 1998, and Iranian director Asghar Farhadi, who won in 2011 for “A Separation.” The only animated film in recent history to win this award was “Waltz with Bashir” in 2008. For the upcoming Oscar race, only “The Great Beauty” and “The Hunt” are eligible to be nominated.

Who should win? I haven’t seen “The Wind Rises” yet, but “Blue is the Warmest Color” is the obvious choice out of the other four (admittedly a decent list).

Who will win? It could be too controversial, but Blue is the Warmest Color has won too many other awards that it will be (deservedly) impossible to ignore.

Golden Globe Winner Predictions: Best Animated Feature Film

The competition: The Croods, Despicable Me 2, Frozen

For your information: This category has existed since 2006, and Pixar has won every year except for 2011, when “The Adventures of Tintin” beat “Cars 2.” This year, for the first time ever, Pixar has no nominees. This is the first time since 2008 that there are only three nominees. The first “Despicable Me” was nominated back in 2010. Only “Frozen” has any other nominations, one for Best Original Song.

Who should win? I hadn’t seen any of these when nominations were announced, but after screening them all the choice is abundantly clear: “Frozen.”

Who will win? There would be a revolt if it was anything but Frozen.

Golden Globe Winner Predictions: Best Original Song

The competition: “Let It Go” by Kristen Anderson-Lopez and Robert Lopez (Frozen), “Atlas” by Guy Berryman, Jonny Buckland, Will Champion, and Chris Martin (The Hunger Games: Catching Fire), “Please Mr. Kennedy” by T Bone Burnett, Ethan Coen, Joel Coen, George Cromarty, Ed Rush, and Justin Timberlake (Inside Llewyn Davis), “Ordinary Love” by Bono, Danger Mouse, and U2 (Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom), and “Sweeter than Fiction” by Jack Antonoff and Taylor Swift (One Chance).

For your information: The familiar names in this category all have one previous nomination to their credits. Bono and U2 took home this award for “The Hands That Built America” from “Gangs of New York” in 2002. T-Bone Burnett won in 2009 for “The Weary Kind” from “Crazy Heart.” Swift was nominated last year for “Safe and Sound” from the first “Hunger Games” film. The big statistic in this category is that, in the past ten years, seven of the winners have gone on to be snubbed by Oscar. Last year, the winner here won the Oscar, so maybe that trend will continue to be reversed.

Who should win? Far and away, “Let It Go.” It’s easily the best song, and its role in its film is so completely central.

Who will win? This award usually goes to a big name, but I’ll hedge my bets on the quality of Let It Go (Frozen).

Golden Globe Winner Predictions: Best Original Score

The competition: All is Lost (Alex Ebert), The Book Thief (John Williams), Gravity (Steven Price), Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom (Alex Heffes), and 12 Years a Slave (Hans Zimmer).

For your information: Williams is the most-nominated Globe composer ever, earning his twenty-third nomination this year. He has won four times. This is the tenth nomination for Zimmer, who has won twice. Ebert, Heffes, and Price are all first-time nominees.

Who should win? Quite honestly, they’re all terrific scores, so it’s hard to choose. I haven’t actually seen two of them, but I’ve listened to samples online. Overall, I think I’d choose “Gravity,” but I’d be fine with any of these.

Who will win? It’s a guess, but Gravity?

Golden Globe Winner Predictions: Best Actress in a Supporting Role in a Motion Picture

The competition: Sally Hawkins’ chatty sister (Blue Jasmine), Jennifer Lawrence’s diva wife (American Hustle), Lupita Nyongo’s abused slave (12 Years a Slave), Julia Roberts’ anger-prone daughter (August: Osage County), and June Squibb’s sarcastic wife (Nebraska).

For your information: Nyongo and Squibb are Globe first-timers, but the other three women have all won Best Actress in a Motion Picture – Comedy/Musical trophies. Lawrence won last year, and Hawkins won in 2008. Roberts has won three times – each time in a different category – out of a total of seven previous nominations. Lawrence, Nyongo, and Squibb’s films are all nominated for top awards.

Who should win? Lawrence or Squibb

Who will win? Without Oprah, it’s anyone’s game, but I’m guessing Lawrence.

Golden Globe Winner Predictions: Best Actor in a Supporting Role in a Motion Picture

The competition: Barkhad Abdi’s determined pirate (Captain Phillips), Daniel Bruhl’s confident racer (Rush), Bradley Cooper’s eccentric FBI agent (American Hustle), Michael Fassbender’s Bible-thumping slave owner (12 Years a Slave), and Jared Leto’s kindhearted transvestite (Dallas Buyers Club).

For your information: This category is mostly fresh faces. Only Cooper and Fassbender have been nominated before, both once, in 2013 and 2012, respectively. All of these films except for Leto’s are nominated for top awards.

Who should win? All good choices, though I wouldn’t go for Cooper

Who will win? It’s looking like Leto at the moment.

Golden Globe Winner Predictions: Best Actress in a Motion Picture – Comedy/Musical

The competition: Amy Adams’ 70s con woman (American Hustle), Julie Delpy’s love interest (Before Midnight), Greta Gerwig’s free spirit dancer (Frances Ha), Julia Louis-Dreyfus’ sarcastic masseuse (Enough Said), and Meryl Streep’s pill-popping matriarch (August: Osage County).

For your information: Streep this year earns her twenty-sixth nomination, and she has won seven times. This is the first film nomination for Louis-Dreyfus, who is also nominated for her TV work on “Veep” and won previously for “Seinfeld.” Adams has four previous nominations, all in the past six years. This is the first nomination for Delpy and Gerwig. Only “American Hustle” is nominated for Best Motion Picture – Comedy/Musical.

Who should win? Louis-Dreyfus (though I haven’t seen Delpy)

Who will win? It could be Adams, but likelier the formidable Streep.

Golden Globe Winner Predictions: Best Actor in a Motion Picture – Comedy/Musical

The competition: Christian Bale’s 70s con man (American Hustle), Bruce Dern’s confused patriarch (Nebraska), Leonardo DiCaprio’s cutthroat stockbroker (The Wolf of Wall Street), Oscar Isaac’s homeless musician (Inside Llewyn Davis), and Joaquin Phoenix’s lonely writer (Her).

For your information: DiCaprio has nine previous nominations, and has won once before. Phoenix has also won once before, out of three nominations. Bale won on his only nomination, for “The Fighter,” in 2010. Dern was nominated twice before in the 1970s. This is the first nomination for Isaac. All five of these men have their films nominated for Best Motion Picture – Comedy/Musical.

Who should win? Phoenix or Dern

Who will win? It could be Isaac, Phoenix, or DiCaprio, but I think it goes to Dern.

Golden Globe Winner Predictions: Best Actress in a Motion Picture – Drama

The competition: Cate Blanchett’s disturbed socialite (Blue Jasmine), Sandra Bullock’s panicked astronaut (Gravity), Judi Dench’s kindhearted mother (Philomena), Emma Thompson’s prickly author (Saving Mr. Banks), and Kate Winslet’s captive mother (Labor Day).

For your information: Much like the predicted Oscar list, these women are all Globe winners. Winslet won three times out of nine, Dench twice out of ten, Blanchett twice out of seven, and Thompson twice out of eight (one for writing). Bullock won just once out of four tries. Bullock and Dench have their films nominated for Best Motion Picture – Drama.

Who should win? Dench or Bullock (though I haven’t seen Winslet)

Who will win? It will probably be Blanchett, though it could feasibly be anyone except Winslet.

Golden Globe Winner Predictions: Best Actor in a Motion Picture – Drama

The competition: Chiwetel Ejiofor’s enslaved free man (12 Years a Slave), Idris Elba’s Nelson Mandela (Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom), Tom Hanks’ courageous captain (Captain Phillips), Matthew McConaughey’s AIDS-stricken drug dealer, and Robert Redford’s lone seaman (All is Lost).

For your information: Hanks is the juggernaut in this category, with four previous wins, three in this category. Redford has collected a handful of prizes – the Cecil B. DeMille Award, Best Director, World Film Favorite – Male, and Most Promising Newcomer – Male – but this is actually his first nomination in this category. Ejiofor has three previous nominations plus a TV miniseries bid this year, where he’s also nominated with Elba, who is vying for “Luther,” for which he won a Globe in 2012 when he was last nominated. The newcomer to the race is McConaughey, earning his first-ever Globe nomination. Ejiofor and Hanks are the only ones with their films nominated for Best Motion Picture – Drama.

Who should win? Hanks or Ejiofor (though I haven’t seen Elba)

Who will win? It could be Redford, but I feel like his personality and the support for his film will propel Hanks to the win.

Movie with Abe: Despicable Me 2

Despicable Me 2
Directed by Pierre Coffin and Chris Renaud
Released July 3, 2013 / DVD December 10, 2013

Sometimes, how you digest a film is based entirely on the mood you’re in when watching it. When I reviewed the first “Despicable Me” back in December 2010, I was hastily watching the animated contenders nominated for the Golden Globe for Best Animated Film. I dismissed the film as immature and unappealing to adults, and forgot all about it until I found myself doing the very same thing of watching all the nominated Globe films for this year. “Despicable Me 2” is an improvement on its predecessor, an enjoyable if not excessively intelligent portrait of a supervillain realizing that he may not be so bad after all.

The best parts of “Despicable Me” were Steve Carell’s voice performance as main character Gru and his cute and incomprehensible yellow Minions. Both are on full display in the sequel, which finds Gru living peacefully with his adopted children only to be approached by Kristen Wiig’s Lucy of the Anti-Villain League to help stop a far more dangerous unknown bad guy who is seeking to amass an army of mutated critters to assist in his takeover of the world. Missing the action, Gru ultimately can’t resist stepping back into the spotlight to protect the world from someone even more despicable than himself.

Like any good animated film, there are plenty of things going on, some of which will go unperceived by children and prove much more entertaining for adults. While the fart jokes don’t have much value other than to amuse the kids, the precociousness of Gru’s children goes a long way, as do the unfailingly funny Minions, who have the opportunity to assume a number of different roles and functions throughout the film. There’s also romance and a love story to be found, and watching Gru try to navigate the complexities and irritations of the dating world is certainly a blast.

More than anything, “Despicable Me 2” is an affirmation of this franchise as a successful one. “Despicable Me 3” is already in the works, as is a prequel film without Gru entitled “Minions.” Gru and his loyal band of yellow followers are great characters, and this is an animated series that will continue to churn out fun films. As its own entry, “Despicable Me 2” is a generally solid and substantial ride, and though it may not be this year’s best animated film, it’s definitely worth a viewing.

B

Movie with Abe: Her

Her
Directed by Spike Jonze
Released December 18, 2013

A director’s previous works can often indicate what his or her next project will be like. In the case of Spike Jonze, he made a big impact on the cinematic world with his first two feature directorial efforts, both collaborations with write Charlie Kaufman. “Being John Malkovich” and “Adaptation” were enormously innovative and creative. His next film was an adventurous adaptation of “Where the Wild Things Are,” and now he has, for the first time, penned his own screenplay to present a truly unique look at the world with his newest film, “Her.”

Joaquin Phoenix, who bounced back from an inexplicable and possibly staged meltdown and exodus from society in 2009, is not one to shy away from challenging roles. After portraying an easily-manipulated war veteran brought into a cult in 2012’s “The Master,” Phoenix stars as Theodore, an author of handwritten cards in the middle of a divorce from his wife Catherine (Rooney Mara). An advertisement for a new artificially-intelligent operating system catches his eye, and Theodore has soon embarked upon a new friendship with Samantha (voiced by Scarlett Johansson), his operating system, which gradually turns into something more.

The notion of a film about a man who falls in love with his computer is undeniably far-fetched, but not for Jonze. He tackles the subject matter with a strong respect for and lack of judgment of Theodore, who is portrayed as a nice guy whose inability to function socially is perhaps his only negative quality. Samantha is immediately endearing and charming, and it’s hard not to fall for her right along with Theodore. The film’s main success is that their relationship feels real, and watching it progress is like watching a real-life romance play out.

Phoenix immerses himself in a mesmerizing lead performance, and Johansson is excellent as a voice without a body, constantly excited and intrigued about what she might discover about the world. Both work hard, in a way that appears effortless but is clearly so much more, to make it seem like they are truly developing a connection, one that is far from physical but deeply emotional. Amy Adams and Rooney Mara have key supporting roles, but this film is really about its two main characters, and, most of all, her, the artificially intelligent operating system who at times feels more human than Theodore or anything else in this ambiguously futuristic society. “Her” is a complex, deeply involving film that oozes creativity and produces a thousand fantastic new questions every time it answers one.

A-

Movie with Abe: The Wolf of Wall Street

The Wolf of Wall Street
Directed by Martin Scorsese
Released December 25, 2013

It used to be Robert De Niro, but now Leonardo DiCaprio is definitely Martin Scorsese’s go-to guy. After three consecutive Best Picture nominees, which resulted in three Oscar nominations for Scorsese as director (and one win) and one for DiCaprio, and another collaboration, “Shutter Island,” they’re back with another outrageous tale based on a true story, that of Jordan Belfort, a stockbroker who had a meteoric rise in the 1980s and 1990s that made him the most notorious man on Wall Street. DiCaprio and Scorsese are a formidable duo, and while this isn’t their most fruitful partnership, they still do good work.

DiCaprio, who at age thirty-nine manages to play a twentysomething convincingly, usually takes on roles that find him experiencing great fortune only to eventually fall victim to the impermanence of his success. In this case, Belfort’s humble beginnings with a supportive and doting wife (Cristin Milioti) as an eager and honest broker under the tutelage of the zany Mark Hanna (Matthew McConaughey) are quickly overshadowed by his realization that it’s possible to make enormous profits off of “penny stocks” and leave the rest of the world behind him. It’s not long before Belfort is drawn in by the lure of endless money, drugs, and a lifestyle in which he answers to one.

Scorsese is certainly capable of making epics, and he has directed DiCaprio in a few of them already. This story does have the feel of an epic, but it’s not structured as such. There is no balanced or bookended narrative in the film, and its three-hour runtime makes its middle feel extremely excessive. Belfort’s irresponsible partying goes on forever, and while there’s always a sense that his downfall is imminent, it takes far too long to actually play out. The focus on drugs and their effects takes an overly prominent position, and Belfort’s story feels like it could have been much shorter, and not ended so abruptly.

DiCaprio assumes most roles with ease. Earlier this year, he was the alluring and mysterious title character in “The Great Gatsby,” and here he gets to put his cards more fully on the table. He’s at his best when he’s squaring off with those who seek to belittle him, like Kyle Chandler’s FBI agent or his wife, Naomi. Australian actress Margot Robbie, whose previous include mostly TV, is the real find of the film as Naomi, truly her own individual person yet not immune from the intoxication of luxury living and difficult to name as the film’s most sympathetic character. There’s a lot to “The Wolf of Wall Street,” but much like its main character’s scheming, it all feels a bit disorganized and thinly held together.

B-