For the last 40 years, Martin Scorsese has been a significant figure in the movie world. Although primarily known for his gangster dramas, such as the classic “Goodfellas” or more recently “The Departed,” he has, in recent years, started to expand into other genres. He has done thrillers, with “Shutter Island,” historical biopics, with “The Aviator,” and even an adventure fantasy film, with “Hugo.” But never before has Scorsese been so bawdy, raunchy, and somehow funny at the same time. “The Wolf of Wall Street” succeeds for several reasons: as an acting film, as a biopic of a man with flawed views of wealth and success, and, above all, as a satire on the overindulgent lifestyles of the richest people in our country. It is also one of the best films of the year.

Jordan Belfort (Leonardo DiCaprio) is a man with rich ambitions. Rich in the sense that he is motivated, but also because that is all he wants out of life: to be rich. To do so, he decides to become a stockbroker. While working in a penny stockroom, he suddenly gets an idea: with the right script, and the precise push of motivation, he could convince any wealthy person to invest in companies that are worth basically nothing. As former coworker Mark Hanna (Matthew McConaughey) explains to him early on, the trick is simple: “move the money from your client’s pocket into your pocket.” His idea succeeds, and he is soon able to start a company called Stratton Oakmont, where he is joined by “family” man Donnie Azoff (Jonah Hill), as well as an entire army of like-minded people. “The real question was this,” Jordan directly asks the audience: “Was all this legal? Absolutely not.”

Belfort is potentially the most immoral creation that Scorsese has ever portrayed on screen. He may not be as vicious as someone like Travis Bickle from “Taxi Driver” or Tommy DeVito from “Goodfellas,” but his conceptions of right and wrong are so unethical, his parents should really be ashamed of themselves. As Belfort says, he  deserves the money more than the people he takes it from because, “he knows how to spend it better.” And what better ways are there to spend money than on drugs, cars, and hookers?  At times, it almost seems that Belfort spends more time partying than he does working.

Leonardo DiCaprio manages to steal the film on more than one occasion. As Belfort, he is loud, shrewd, and obnoxious, especially during his animated and energetic office speeches. Think of a fascist leader, but with a little more of a sense of humor. Donnie Azoff is also the perfect side-kick, as the comic relief to an already witty character; and this is played to perfection by Jonah Hill. The two together form the heartbeat of “The Wolf of Wall Street.” Because, as much as you want to hate these people and their horrifying lifestyles, it’s hard not to also root for them. Belfort is just a man who wants to live out his dream, even if his dream so happens to be benefitting gloriously at the expense of others.

But it is this dilemma that “The Wolf of Wall Street” seems to shy away from. We see plenty of the rich side, where people buy yachts long enough to fit helicopters on top, purchase unimaginably large and expensive mansions, and at times, literally throw money away, just because they have more of it than they can spend. But we see almost nothing from the people that they are stealing from. What about the working-class families that struggle to make ends meet? How are their lives directly affected by Belfort’s actions? If we had seen more about them, and less about the excessiveness of Belfort’s office parties, perhaps the message would have become even more clear.

Drug use and debauchery aside, “The Wolf of Wall Street” also manages to be quite funny. Scorsese, in his old age, seems to have developed a ripe sense of humor. At times, he will take something that is bordering on a serious tone, almost as if he is bringing you back to a scene from his older films. But then, somehow, he makes light of it. One of the funniest scenes of the film occurs almost immediately after Belfort has taken too many sleeping pills. What could be a potentially life-threatening situation instead becomes DiCaprio, motor functions absent, rolling and slithering across the floor of a country club, attempting to make it home in time to stop his friend from using their wire-tapped phone. He only has to drive a single mile to his house, but in his drug-induced stupor, it feels like a great, vast distance. It is a side-splittingly funny scene.

And “The Wolf of Wall Street” is full of them. While the film does succeed as a satire on the capitalist lifestyle, Scorsese also has a lot of fun with it, even if he does go a little too far during some scenes. It’s hard to believe that this is the same man that directed the hard-hitting “Taxi Driver” nearly 40 years ago. I can’t wait to see where he goes next.