Many who would have seen Goodfellas before The Wolf of Wall Street were likely taken aback for a moment the first time Leonardo DiCaprio directly addresses the camera, met with the sudden realization “Oh, Marty’s doing this again.” Ray Liotta’s narration is such a defining feature of Goodfellas that any film that uses direct address is likely to draw the comparison.
It’s not just a vague similarity either; Hill’s famous line, “As far back as I can remember, I always wanted to be a gangster,” is almost quoted by Belfort’s narration early in the film, although his effect is more like “As far back as I can remember, I always wanted to be rich.”
Dreaming of being a gangster is perhaps too specific and outdated a notion for those wishing to chase the American Dream in the 80s and 90s through to today. But the striking, deliberate similarities also suggest that anyone who has the dream of old mobsters trying to get rich by any means necessary in contemporary America need only go to Wall Street to make their dream a reality. Casting stockbrokers as modern-day gangsters and thugs is a pretty bold assertion.
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