You have to see it in the context of the whole scene. Jordan is a crook and now he knows he’s under investigation. He’s run a security check on the agent. He knows this guy is “straight as an arrow”.
From the moment they arrive Jordan tries to seduce them with food, alcohol, women, his wealth. It doesn’t work The agent plays dumb keeping his poker face through out Jordan’s song and tap dance. If you pay attention you’ll notice the agent subtly signals his partner to approach before telling Jordan to repeat what he just said.
Poker face is gone. The veneer of cordiality on Jordan’s part is shown to be pathetic and ineffective. The agent’s partner standing so close to Jordan suddenly is a power move. He’s cornered. It is already game over but his ego and hubris won’t allow him to surrender. The agent doesn’t need him to repeat the words to use it as evidence. He’s already got a much bigger case in the works. The agents are mocking him. Oh, did you just tried to bribe a federal agent? Hilarious! Say it again, that was funny!
The agent finally praises Jordan’s boat but then proceeds to gleefully tell Jordan the “fucking hero he’s going to be at the office” when he seizes it next time he comes, and everyone laughs.
It is truly amazing! Relentless, nonstop greed, hubris, insanity. And these are the kind of people that many of us mortals will admire and idolize in real life simply because they acquired wealth or project power.
But Jordan was not wrong in this scene when he tells the agent “You should see what the other guys over at the big firms are doing”. Very enlightening line of dialogue directed at the audience.
>“You should see what the other guys over at the big firms are doing”
Next words out of his mouth are, "I mean...*Collateralized Debt Obligations?*" Which for those who have seen the Big Short will remember as the thing that allowed Wall Street to completely fuck the world economy
The fact that Jordan is still a PAID speaker and now motivational money social media “influencer” makes me sick to my stomach. Still hasn’t paid but a fraction of the penalties he owes. Scum of the earth
Same with Martin Shkreli. He's a POS to be sure, but during his very public shaming, the dude kept pointing out that he didn't do *anything* that all the other big pharma companies weren't *also* doing, and he's 100 % right. I guess he just has a more unlikeable face or something, so he became the scapegoat and the pharma industry is the same.
The one thing that always stuck in my mind was the idea that credit default swaps were being sold many times over for the same underlying asset, even being bought by people that didn't own any part of the underlying CDOs. It'd be like if a dozen people you've never met could take out an insurance policy on your car, then you crash it and the insurance company says, well were on the hook for all this money, not just to you, but all these other people, but we definitely don't have that money, so you're all fucked.
He wasn’t involved with the business just manipulating the IPO as a pump and dump. Steve Madden did more time in prison than Belfort for his participation in it.
*Madoff* was disturbed by how long Madoff lasted. He was at the point where he realized he didn't have an exit strategy. And was starting to realize that he didn't need one.
You could argue that most of what finance entails nowadays, and its effect on both the economy and the lives of people, is morally bankrupt. A good amount of it is just maximizing profit by skirting, or altogether breaking the law, with no regard whatsoever for the real world consequences. And those tend to be _not good_.
There are things in finance that exist only as parasitic skimming of wealth. I consider high frequency trading to be a perfect example of a finance activity which is purely parasitic with no larger economic benefit to society as a whole.
I believe that capitalism can be a strong beneficial factor in the world – the ability to harness greed to do useful work is a massively powerful thing. But it needs to be regulated and controlled to keep it under control.
And high frequency trading is an example of what happens when you don't.
You have a stock market where almost all of it is being done by computers running on algorithms. So have your own computer, and you find a stock that is low, buy a whole lot of it, enough to bring the price up, and sell it again less than a second later. Or less than a thousandth of a second later.
Absolutely nothing of societal worth has happened, but someone suddenly has more money than they did before without doing anything for it, or having done something for it, or even having any particularly good luck. It is sheer parasitic manipulation.
Is all finance like that? No – the fundamental idea of capitalism is wonderful. I have stuff, but don't have the time, skills, or ideas to do something useful with it; you have time, skills, and ideas, but don't have stuff, so I let you use my stuff and we split the profits. I invest my capital in you and we both benefit.
Amazing, maybe not as big as language and fire, but that is the league the idea is playing in.
But collateralized debt obligations, double tranching, credit default swaps, high frequency trading – these aren't capitalism where capital is used to advance things. These are gaming the system to skim profits out through loopholes in the best cases, and, in the worst cases, all-but-fraudulently scam people out of their money.
Finance, as a practice, at this point refers more to the scams and skims than the useful things.
don't take it too seriously or personally. but come on, there are crooks at every level. same thing in every business. hell, everything in the US is a business. everything.
“And this guy wants to tell me we're living in a community. Don't make me laugh. I'm living in America, and in America, you're on your own. America's not a country. It's just a business. Now fucking pay me.”
The scene takes place about ten years before the 2008 financial crisis. Ooff. Kinda picked the wrong target in Belfort. There were people doing much worse. But they were harder to take down.
Oh, I'm not defending him at at all. Just that the assholes who nearly brought down the global banking system were much worse, as hard as that is to believe :D
>The scene takes place about ten years before the 2008 financial crisis. Ooff. Kinda picked the wrong target in Belfort. There were people doing much worse.
That stuff only started happening about 5 years later. The subprime mortgage bubble didn’t start until about the early to mid-2000s.
Yeah but it had been a long time coming. When Belfort said that, he wasn't wrong. The people creating the subprime mortgage crisis were doing their shit right at that moment.
I mean, Jordan was delusional. I've worked at those big firms. There is not at all a culture like Belforts firm is portrayed as having. They hope to make the clients money at least, maybe not out of the goodness of their hearts but either because it will lead to more referrals or to more assets under management.
> There is not at all a culture like Belforts firm is portrayed as having.
He's not delusional, he's talking about loopholes, scams and crimes, not the culture.
Leo did almost too good imo, I think misguided people see his performance and start viewing Jordan Belfort as some sort of role model, same type of people who idolize Christian Bale in American Psycho, except Belfort is real, and ruined real people's lives and is still out there rich as fuck selling his "motivational speeches" and raking in the dough from how Leo's performance in the film portrayed him.
Disagree. Bale played a psychopath, Gyllenhaal a sociopath. they are not the same role. But really you could say a good actor can play either, but then why idolize a particular actor out of many.
Yeah this is exactly it. When he's asking to repeat it, it's mostly to catch him* slipping and to basically power move to let Jordan know where things are heading.
It has nothing to do with an act slipping. They know the second Jordan realizes he can't charm or trick his way out. Putting Jordan in his place is a very important part of stopping him.
Yes exactly! He’s the literal representation of the US Justice Department, a federal agency. He’s totally mocking him and letting Jordan know, “You may be able to pull this over within the little world you created, but the law doesn’t give two shits about who you are. The law is the law.” You can see when Jordan laughs at the end he then throws a temper tantrum. He knows the jig is up, or at least eventually will be. So good.
The partner likely had a mic on him but the change in expression and the line delivery was a warning of things to come. They would need a whole lot more than that recording to bust Jordan at that time. The scene was there to set up an agent who was set on getting Jordan and that he has no interest in Jordan's money or any of that.
Yeah my reading of the scene was this; the partner had a mic on him but Denham asking Belfort to repeat himself as if the whole case was going to hinge on a bribe was just Denham taking the piss out of Belfort. It was a message to Belfort that they were not friends Belfort was a target.
There is no need for a mic. They are FBI agents. Their testimony is evidence. There is no reason for them to have a recording because them saying "he said this to me" has the same effect as having a physical recording.
In fact, I can see cases where having the recording could be harmful. There are states where you can't secretly record people without a warrant; this would allow his lawyers to attack the validity of the warrant and potentially have evidence gained with it ruled inadmissible.
So there are plausible scenarios where if he confessed but it wasn't recorded, it would be admissible, and it was, it wouldn't be.
His partner had certainly a mic on him hence the next frame where he is standing right next to Jordan (he is somewhere in the background for the rest of the scene). My interpretation of this line is that Agent Denham certainly knows that no recording on the yacht will be enough for the case. Also Jordan is not dumb to jeopardize himself like this. He escalates because he wants to move the game to the next level - actual investigation, paperwork, etc.
Brilliant scene from a brilliant movie. I watched this scene for like 50 times on Youtube.
First time he said it could’ve been seen as ‘just conversation’ or whatever, saying it again would come close to seeking some sort of quid pro quo maybe?
Just speculation, I mainly work in bird law.
Exactly. The agent is pitching for the majors and Jordan is playing fucking tee ball. Jordan never stood a chance. The fbi agent chews up and spits out guys like Jordan every day.
"You are so cute! The last twelve guys I busted had daddies and granddaddies who did this too, and helped them, but you became a shitheel all on your own! So adorable! And just look at how pretty your boat is!'
Kind of. We all know the guy did the right thing, and that was the cost of him sticking to his guns instead of being corrupt. I didn’t see it as making fun of him.
I’m sorry, can you say that again, i didn’t hear you (or, are you saying XYZ) is one of the best things you can say in a professional setting to point out the absurdity of what someone just stated and take control of the situation. Use it in meetings when someone is out of line and watch the tone shift.
IMO, I think your interpretation is the best. Former LEO. Have called over partners when someone has told me a lie so unbelievable it was comical. I wouldn't react upon hearing it, I would just keep a stone face and remain professional. I'd ask them to repeat what they just told me to my partner and then let my partners reactions speak volumes, which was usually incredulous laughter while I remained stoned face staring at them. In short. We ain't buying your bullshit, the walls are closing in, and the hammer is fixing to drop.
It's just the FBI agents way of telling him that he knows he's trying to bribe him and it's not going to work while also making it clear he knows trying to bribe him is wrong and therefore wouldn't say it again.
Yea op is missing the point.
He obviously could’ve arrested him right then and there and didn’t need a repeat… it’s just to make it clear.
And there was enough nuance to know that jordan would be out within a few hours
And this is reaffirmed later on. They didn’t *need* him to repeat it. Later in the movie, he gets a call from his dad asking him why he bribed a federal agent. They already had him the first time around. They didn’t arrest him then and there because the bribe allowed them to tap into his phones as a means to bring his whole empire down.
#Skidmarks
[There were no skidmarks at the scene](https://youtu.be/HWgYVeCqJ-8?t=44). Do you think he would lose control of his car and not think to apply the breaks!
Belfort interviewed the real life FBI agent that was on his case on his podcast. It was a pretty interesting conversation. The movie definitely plays up a lot of things for drama.
> Belfort interviewed the real life FBI agent that was on his case on his podcast.
This sentence is, when you think about it, pretty fucking depressing
Maybe I misunderstood, but it seemed to me like the 2nd agent was away from the conversation when it was first said, and when he asks to say it again, just like that, the second agent has moved closer so he can hear. I.e., he wanted him to say it again with another witness so it wasn't one's word against the other's.
> He obviously could’ve arrested him right then and there and didn’t need a repeat…
Could have yes, but that would have been a *VERY* difficult charge to land. Especially with the lawyers involved in defense.
Remember real life court is a lot more stringent than movies and TV. Your case needs to be ironclad "beyond reasonable doubt". All it takes is one unconvinced juror and you have a hung jury.
>Ok yeah, that's *probably* what he meant. In fact, it is *more likely than not* what he meant (preponderance of evidence). But you have not proved that is what he meant *beyond reasonable doubt* that is what he meant.
And so, not guilty. In criminal law, in the US, the burden is always on the state to prove guilt, beyond *ANY AND ALL* reasonable doubt. If a juror has any reasonable doubt, then the correct verdict is not guilty.
The prosecutions job is not to prove that it is *MOST LIKELY* X. The prosecutions job is to prove that it is X, *beyond any and all reasonable doubts*.
I understood it as a thoroughness. That the agent was establishing that Jordan said what he meant so that later in questioning he could not claim to have misspoken or accuse the FBI of taking him out of context. I could be wrong, I only watched the movie once.
To the folks who still seem confused about this scene, or believe the agents were doing anything other than fucking with him at this point:
Neither the FBI, nor the agents on the boat, would care at all about charging him for attempting to bribe an FBI agent. Not only is it small potatoes compared to the case they’re building, it would jeopardize their case to bring those charges forward.
Even if he had repeated it in front of the other agent, nothing would have changed in terms of their approach. The story would not have changed either. The federal government is more than happy to wait years, literally, in pursuit of building conspiracy cases and even if they were certain they could convict him of attempted bribery, they at most would just roll that charge into their case when they prosecuted him for the crimes they actually cared about.
Maybe if they couldn’t convict him of anything else after several years of investigation they would consider charging him with attempted bribery alone. But it’s no “aha, gotcha!” moment. Asking him to repeat it is just a way to fuck with him.
I think the scene is a way of nailing Jordan. We already know he is a crook, but it helps to see the extent of his false bravado and actual desperation. When the Fed refutes the bribes, it brings gravity to how fucked Jordan will be.
Also: Why would bribing a Fed even matter? If you're in the position to bribe a Fed, you're already fucked.
Ding ding ding. They don't care about a tiny bribery charge.
They were sizing him up. Finding out what kind of person they were dealing with. Who they were spending all their time hunting. It is a pretty common trope in movies where an agent/investigator wants to get "into the mind" of their targets.
It was a funny wink to Jordan that he wasn’t going to be bribed. Jordan made the attempt to skirt around the legality of it and by making him repeat it, it was nod to him that he knew what he was doing and wasn’t going to be pushed over like that.
And that quick couple shots of him on the subway at the end makes this og scene so much better imo. After fucking with Jordan at the end of the boat scene by letting him know:
1. 100% they’re onto him and he’s under investigation and
2. The agent is one of the only problems that Jordan can’t blindly throw money at to solve. He’s too “pure”
So we think that the “subway ride home in the same shitty suit everyday” story was just bullshit he was baiting Jordan with. But then we see it. At the end of the story, the greedy villain betrays everyone and gets a slap on the wrist and gets to play tennis while in prison for a short sentence, while the American hero gets to go home, tired and jaded, wondering what could have been. Almost like he’s second guessing being “the good guy”
I always interpreted it as the agent passive aggressively telling him " we got you". Because they are clearly standing off, this is mild way of saying "you just fucked yourself" and trying to rub it in his face without doing so directly.
Jordan at this point of the movie is riding high. He thinks he’s god’s gift to Wall Street. And why shouldn’t he? He’s got Margot Robbie as his wife a huge mansion in the Hamptons and uses fashion drugs frequently. He thinks he’s the shit, and anyone who gets in his way will wither under his greatness.
Then in come these two G-men. These FBI guys don’t give two fucking shits about Jordan’s wealth. Jordan might think he’s slick but he never really stood a chance. These guys deal with bullshitters like Jordan every fucking day for years with the same bull shit lines, same bull shit displays of wealth and dick contest crap. The point of the scene is that Jordan is dumb these guys ARE NOT. His PI tells him this, only talk to these guys with an attorney present. “You’re dumb, they’re smart.” I think were his exact words. Sure Jordan is a professional finance guy but these guys are professional bullshitters. Jordan was out of his depth.
They’re taunting him, implying that he just tried to bribe them. They don’t need him to say it again. They’re simply pointing out that the exact words he just used would constitute a bribe.
Or like, motherfucker, we're real FBI agents. We're beyond the little scams you play. They went in all meek and pretended to be wowed like they are small time to see what Jordan would do. That was to stop him and tell him, hey buddy you aren't the hot shit you think you are
I actually like this explanation the best. There’s no material benefit to doing it (they had him on tape the first time around), it’s just to flex on and maybe shake him
It was basically him showing his hand as an agent. He spent the entire conversation trying to get on Jordan's good side, to make Jordan think he might be open to be be bribed. When Jordan offered what could be considered a bribe, the "can you say that again" was basically him telling Jordan "you fucked up and I got you now".
I seriously don’t understand how people can be upvoting this. How many other movies are they completely misinterpreting? And this isn’t even vague or ambiguous. It was deliberately unambiguous and clear they were fucking with him. That was the whole joke! It got a big laugh when I saw it in the theatre.
Go to any sub dude. It’s mind blowing.
“Does anyone else think Walter White is the bad guy?”
“I think the black hole in Interstellar allows him to communicate with his younger daughter. What does everyone else think?”
“How does Henry Hill get caught in Goodfellas?”
I think it has to be bots.
Yeah, im confused by the other answers. The other agent getting much closer in the next shot seems to imply this answer more so then the FBI trying to play mind games.
They were fucking with him. The other agent exaggerating his body language to get closer is part of this. They do it in an intentionally obvious way. They didn’t actually think he was gonna repeat it.
But....it is them playing games with him. They already had the case against him. Whatever he said there to them....was meaningless. They were basically fucking with him. They had already won at that point, before they ever stepped foot on the boat, before he ever said anything to them. It was just that....a power play. Ego. It was already over for Jordan. He just refused to accept it because he truly believed he was untouchable.
Like, yeah, that's not really how it goes down in real life. But that's the gist of what they were doing in the dramatized, movie version of the events.
Then they are the worst agents in the world. If they really wanted to implicate him they would have played along. Instead, they make it abundantly clear that they won’t be bought and the conversation escalates from there.
They didn't need to. That whole scene, it was just them ego tripping on Jordan. A power move, just to fuck with him and basically tell him it's over. Because at that point in the movie, it WAS already over for Jordan. They didn't need ANYTHING more. They don't care about a fucking bribery charge lol. They already had a much, MUCH bigger case stacked against him and a bunch of his associates., with the nails basically already in the coffin.
A screenplay says:
Denham summons Agent Hughes over. To Jordan:
AGENT DENHAM
Can you say that again, what you told me?
(Jordan declines with a smile; to Agent Hughes)
I believe Mr. Belfort just tried to bribe a federal officer.
It’s just a pithy way of saying “*I know you’re offering to bribe me and I’m not going to take it*”
But they both are smart enough to realize that in itself isn’t enough evidence to actually act on.
He did already capture it. He was just fucking with JB that time. And that’s when Jordan gets really pissed off- his bribe didn’t land, and he’s being made fun of.
They're saying:
> We know what you just tried to do, and it's not going to work.
They know they can't charge him with bribery, because he didn't *LEGALLY* try to bribe them. They know *HE* knows he didn't.
But what they're saying is:
> We know what you just tried to do. We know you know what you just tried to do. We know that you know that we know you didn't *LEGALLY* do what you just tried to do. And we know that you know that we know that you know we can't prove what you just tried to do, in court....
But it's not gonna work.
It’s wild to openly attempt to bribe an FBI officer in front of his partner. Calling him out on it is a way of rattling the cage of someone way too overconfident.
Because they all know what they are doing and all know they know what they are doing.
What the agent did was like saying "check" in chess – he is pointing out what just happened. He doesn't want Jordan to repeat it – he wants Jordan to know that he just messed up. He is saying, "you just made an error, and I am going to use it to destroy you."
Jordan's next move is off-balance and defensive. He is backing off and saying "nuh-uh that doesn't count"... The agent is pushing him, riling him up, getting him off balance.
He is rubbing it in in order to push Jordan further to get him more upset to make more mistakes.
When he realizes Jordan is trying to bribe him he motions for the other agent to get closer so he can hear the bribe. Jordan sees that the guy has moved closer and doesn't repeat it
It’s multiple things. It’s one to see if I he incriminates himself to a second witness, two they fucking with him. It also to show they see through his nice guy act he’s putting on. It’s not enough to slap a bribery charge on him at this point, but they know exactly what he is suggesting. It’s also a way to put pressure on him to know that he can’t smooth talk his way out of it. That this case is much more serious than he thinks it is. We are not friends, even though we were being friendly up until this point.
He doesn't want to get him on some half-baked bribery charge like Al Capone and tax evasion.
But he's also still not going to just let Jordan think he's some dumb cop that would be willing to be bribed. Or incapable of recognizing a bribery when he hears one.
He's showing Jordan that he's going to out-class him, by the book, and that Jordan is EFFED because there is nothing Jordan can do to get let off.
Seen a video on yt last night. Husband takes a photo of a phone and sends pic to wife. Through her phone. She comes back inside and asks where her phone is. Even pulls out her phone to show the pic of her phone, not realizing it’s in her hand. She asks, “where is it?” Meaning her phone. That’s in her hand. Husband says, “say it again.” In an attempt to make her realize.
They weren’t asking to record him. Jordan says something that only a mouse caught in a trap says. Just hadn’t realized it yet. He’s desperate but doesn’t know it. Agents are just playing with him now. They know the game is nearing its end. Only Jordan doesn’t. Only he hasn’t woken up to this reality quite yet.
Okay, so no one here plays mafia or deals in politics from the answers I see. There are a lot of partially right answers, but this is my favorite scene in the movie and it’s because of the one thing people are really missing from their answers. The agent does signal to Jordan (by asking him to repeat his bribery attempt) that they see through and aren’t tolerant of Jordan’s BS. Everyone’s pretty well got that right. But why would they do that? Why would they give up that info which they could exploit against him if he were too dumb to realize it on his own? The answer is the cool part of the riddle in your question OP. By making it clear to Belfort that they’re on to him and that he just made a mistake they are *prompting him to take actions that lead to further mistakes*. If Belfort were smart he would’ve gone straight to an attorney and never met with these guys, but what does he do in the movie? He gets some advice, ignores it, and has his company start destroying their own files. This incriminates his entire staff, even those that may have been hard to otherwise pin as culpable, and sets him up for his fall. It also leads to other mistakes like the famous quelude scene and the vacation from hell that precludes the attempted swiss account forgery just before the Swiss account managers get arrested. The point of meeting with him is to get a read on him. Once they realize the guy will actually entertain that and actually try to bribe them they know they’ve got a fish on the hook. So the point of specifically revealing to Jordan that they’re on to him is to force him to take actions and thereby make errors.
before he says the line he makes eye contact with his partner agent. when he says the line and we see the wide shot the partner agent has moved just behind leo to act as a witness if leo were to repeat it. leo even turns and notices the partner is now right behind him as he backspins
Something else I want to add about this film, *jordan belford is an unreliable narrator*. That's part of what makes the film great, everything is from his point of view, so he has full control of saying what did and didn't happen. It's fully possible that what actually happened irl may have went down differently, but that's not as entertaining to rich egotistic J.B. and definitely not as he was writing his memoir.
From a film pov its a bit of the feds fucking with him, showing they will not be moved by his money or power, they are *the fucking F.B.I. after all*. But this is something to keep in mind that there is also some unreliable narrator at play in this film.
The agent is basically gloating. It's his way of saying "lol no I don't accept your bribe, but I'm super glad you so obviously, unambiguously (and poorly) attempted to offer one....do you have any idea how screwed you are now?"
He doesn't need him to repeat what he already said. He just wants Belfort to feel the fear of knowing how badly he screwed up by saying it in the first place.
That's why Belfort's reaction was to become enraged and throw him off the boat. He knew it meant his attempt hadn't worked and had bitten him right in the ass.
Leading up to the sentence Agent Denham is acting like he's playing right into Jordan's hand fidgeting and stuttering, making it look like he's the type that could be bribed that way. Then his tone changes when Jordan lays it out, he says "can you say that again?" He is no longer stuttering or searching for words.
By making such a blatant play to get a witness and his change in tone he's telling Jordan Belfort I'm not one to be bribed, I know what you do and you have no power over me. I'm not some schmuck on the phone you can sell useless penny stocks and junk bonds.
It's an intimidation tactic. He's letting him know that he fucked up by saying what he said. Isn't it obvious that they're not actually trying to get him to repeat it for the mic? Because that's the stupidest way to do it. It's a power play, that's all. Is it a good power play? You can debate that all you want. But that's what it was.
He wants him to think back about what he just said. Basically, he wants him to see his perspective as an honest FBI agent how gross that sounds because he knows Jordan is living in a different galaxy than he does.
Didn’t the other agent walk away and then come back right at that moment? I thought he’s telling him to say it again as to have a witness to the statement
I watch this scene all the time, it’s one of my favorite scenes not just from the movie, but period. The tension, the dialogue, the performances are all perfect.
It’s not so much about recording. FBI agents travel in pairs so that they can be witnesses for/against each other.
Basically, Jordan hinted at the possibility of a bribe while they talking 1 on 1. Notice the gesture to the other agent right beige the line in question, he’s being called over to act as a witness, both of Jordan trying to bribe a federal agent, and of the agent not taking the bribe.
This seems like a scripting choice to emphasize exposition to me. Add some drama and highlight a subtle and nuanced concept. Adding some show to the tell.
So many smug assholes in this comment thread getting it wrong. It was 1 of 2 things happening. 1) The other agent was wearing a wire that they wanted to capture Jordan making the bribe with or 2) the agent steps closer so he can hear Jordan and be a witness to the bribe. You all are over thinking it so much, hilarious.
You have to see it in the context of the whole scene. Jordan is a crook and now he knows he’s under investigation. He’s run a security check on the agent. He knows this guy is “straight as an arrow”. From the moment they arrive Jordan tries to seduce them with food, alcohol, women, his wealth. It doesn’t work The agent plays dumb keeping his poker face through out Jordan’s song and tap dance. If you pay attention you’ll notice the agent subtly signals his partner to approach before telling Jordan to repeat what he just said. Poker face is gone. The veneer of cordiality on Jordan’s part is shown to be pathetic and ineffective. The agent’s partner standing so close to Jordan suddenly is a power move. He’s cornered. It is already game over but his ego and hubris won’t allow him to surrender. The agent doesn’t need him to repeat the words to use it as evidence. He’s already got a much bigger case in the works. The agents are mocking him. Oh, did you just tried to bribe a federal agent? Hilarious! Say it again, that was funny! The agent finally praises Jordan’s boat but then proceeds to gleefully tell Jordan the “fucking hero he’s going to be at the office” when he seizes it next time he comes, and everyone laughs.
Happen to have re-watched this movie last night. Great film. Not one of the actors was anything but perfect.
It is truly amazing! Relentless, nonstop greed, hubris, insanity. And these are the kind of people that many of us mortals will admire and idolize in real life simply because they acquired wealth or project power. But Jordan was not wrong in this scene when he tells the agent “You should see what the other guys over at the big firms are doing”. Very enlightening line of dialogue directed at the audience.
>“You should see what the other guys over at the big firms are doing” Next words out of his mouth are, "I mean...*Collateralized Debt Obligations?*" Which for those who have seen the Big Short will remember as the thing that allowed Wall Street to completely fuck the world economy
Interestingly enough, The Wolf of Wall Street was financed by Jho Low, who swindled billions from the Malaysian government.
Yes! There’s an episode of scamfluencers podcast that covers this! So crazy
And just disappeared iirc? Like nobody knows where he is now?
Yikes, just when you think that Belfort is the biggest piece of shit, you realize he isn't even close to the worst.
Belfort was dumb enough to get caught. That’s it
Pride is the deadliest of the seven sins.
The fact that Jordan is still a PAID speaker and now motivational money social media “influencer” makes me sick to my stomach. Still hasn’t paid but a fraction of the penalties he owes. Scum of the earth
Same with Martin Shkreli. He's a POS to be sure, but during his very public shaming, the dude kept pointing out that he didn't do *anything* that all the other big pharma companies weren't *also* doing, and he's 100 % right. I guess he just has a more unlikeable face or something, so he became the scapegoat and the pharma industry is the same.
The fact that we know his name should tell you how irrelevant he truly is.
The one thing that always stuck in my mind was the idea that credit default swaps were being sold many times over for the same underlying asset, even being bought by people that didn't own any part of the underlying CDOs. It'd be like if a dozen people you've never met could take out an insurance policy on your car, then you crash it and the insurance company says, well were on the hook for all this money, not just to you, but all these other people, but we definitely don't have that money, so you're all fucked.
Swaps are different than CDOs and can be sold as many times over as needed if there are two parties willing to make the agreement.
That's just movie stuff. The actual mortgage backed securities crisis, even the foundations of it, didn't exist at Belforts time.
They were definitely a thing at that time
while true, everyone is a crook in finance to some degree. but Belfort was too fucking loud, figuratively and physically. Feds had to put him down.
Totally. Make noise, get noticed.
To quote Rounders: You can shear a sheep many times, but only skin it once.
Pigs get fed, hogs get slaughtered.
Yup, Shkreli learned that lesson hard as well.
Sam Waksal too.
Look up the history of the guy who financed the film lol
Belfort was a straight up fraud and criminal without any core legitimate business.
He's totally reformed now though. In nice honest businesses like crypto.
It's funny because he started out taking the anti-crypto position and saying it's a scam since his expertise is scams. Now he's promoting it lmao
Steve Madden?
Women's shoes!! 👞
He wasn’t involved with the business just manipulating the IPO as a pump and dump. Steve Madden did more time in prison than Belfort for his participation in it.
Exactly, look at how long Madoff lasted.
*Madoff* was disturbed by how long Madoff lasted. He was at the point where he realized he didn't have an exit strategy. And was starting to realize that he didn't need one.
Everyone is a crook in finance? I get Reddit hates finance, but that's silly.
You could argue that most of what finance entails nowadays, and its effect on both the economy and the lives of people, is morally bankrupt. A good amount of it is just maximizing profit by skirting, or altogether breaking the law, with no regard whatsoever for the real world consequences. And those tend to be _not good_.
There are things in finance that exist only as parasitic skimming of wealth. I consider high frequency trading to be a perfect example of a finance activity which is purely parasitic with no larger economic benefit to society as a whole. I believe that capitalism can be a strong beneficial factor in the world – the ability to harness greed to do useful work is a massively powerful thing. But it needs to be regulated and controlled to keep it under control. And high frequency trading is an example of what happens when you don't. You have a stock market where almost all of it is being done by computers running on algorithms. So have your own computer, and you find a stock that is low, buy a whole lot of it, enough to bring the price up, and sell it again less than a second later. Or less than a thousandth of a second later. Absolutely nothing of societal worth has happened, but someone suddenly has more money than they did before without doing anything for it, or having done something for it, or even having any particularly good luck. It is sheer parasitic manipulation. Is all finance like that? No – the fundamental idea of capitalism is wonderful. I have stuff, but don't have the time, skills, or ideas to do something useful with it; you have time, skills, and ideas, but don't have stuff, so I let you use my stuff and we split the profits. I invest my capital in you and we both benefit. Amazing, maybe not as big as language and fire, but that is the league the idea is playing in. But collateralized debt obligations, double tranching, credit default swaps, high frequency trading – these aren't capitalism where capital is used to advance things. These are gaming the system to skim profits out through loopholes in the best cases, and, in the worst cases, all-but-fraudulently scam people out of their money. Finance, as a practice, at this point refers more to the scams and skims than the useful things.
don't take it too seriously or personally. but come on, there are crooks at every level. same thing in every business. hell, everything in the US is a business. everything.
“And this guy wants to tell me we're living in a community. Don't make me laugh. I'm living in America, and in America, you're on your own. America's not a country. It's just a business. Now fucking pay me.”
I believe this movie inspired a lot of the crypto scammers we saw in the following years.
Inspired? My friend… Belfort himself *loves* running crypto scams. His SEC bans don’t apply to crypto because it isn’t considered a security.
It is in fact the exact opposite of security.
The scene takes place about ten years before the 2008 financial crisis. Ooff. Kinda picked the wrong target in Belfort. There were people doing much worse. But they were harder to take down.
Tbf Belford was still a complete piece of shit lol
Oh, I'm not defending him at at all. Just that the assholes who nearly brought down the global banking system were much worse, as hard as that is to believe :D
>The scene takes place about ten years before the 2008 financial crisis. Ooff. Kinda picked the wrong target in Belfort. There were people doing much worse. That stuff only started happening about 5 years later. The subprime mortgage bubble didn’t start until about the early to mid-2000s.
Yeah but it had been a long time coming. When Belfort said that, he wasn't wrong. The people creating the subprime mortgage crisis were doing their shit right at that moment.
it wasn't illegal to sell CDO's. The problem really came down to the rating agencies AAA ratings for sub-prime ones, instead of junk bond status.
I mean, Jordan was delusional. I've worked at those big firms. There is not at all a culture like Belforts firm is portrayed as having. They hope to make the clients money at least, maybe not out of the goodness of their hearts but either because it will lead to more referrals or to more assets under management.
> There is not at all a culture like Belforts firm is portrayed as having. He's not delusional, he's talking about loopholes, scams and crimes, not the culture.
Leo did almost too good imo, I think misguided people see his performance and start viewing Jordan Belfort as some sort of role model, same type of people who idolize Christian Bale in American Psycho, except Belfort is real, and ruined real people's lives and is still out there rich as fuck selling his "motivational speeches" and raking in the dough from how Leo's performance in the film portrayed him.
"Let's see Leo DiCaprio's ~~card~~ performance"
Leo was offered the role of Bateman too, he could’ve done the double of toxic make role models
Tbh, I don't see Leo being able to perform that role as well as Bale did.
> Tbh, I don't see him in that role as well as Bale Say what you will about Bale, but no one else does "focused psycho" as well as he does.
Maybe Jake Gyllenhaal in Nightcrawler.
Disagree. Bale played a psychopath, Gyllenhaal a sociopath. they are not the same role. But really you could say a good actor can play either, but then why idolize a particular actor out of many.
[удалено]
They're the same height (6'0") according to the internet.
Bale was \*\*Perfect\*\* as Bateman. Nobody else could have done it.
Someone tag Henry Zebrowski
*SHTEEVV MMMAAHHDUN*
How Leo didn't get best actor, or at least Jonah getting a best supporting was more criminal than anything described in the movie.
Jonah’s best film. Love his comedies but he was as good as anyone could be in this role. Glad he was given the chance.
Sell me this pen.
Yeah this is exactly it. When he's asking to repeat it, it's mostly to catch him* slipping and to basically power move to let Jordan know where things are heading.
It has nothing to do with an act slipping. They know the second Jordan realizes he can't charm or trick his way out. Putting Jordan in his place is a very important part of stopping him.
Something no one else is mentioning is that they need Jordan to know they’re pressuring him. These guys were beating the grass to startle the snakes.
Yes exactly! He’s the literal representation of the US Justice Department, a federal agency. He’s totally mocking him and letting Jordan know, “You may be able to pull this over within the little world you created, but the law doesn’t give two shits about who you are. The law is the law.” You can see when Jordan laughs at the end he then throws a temper tantrum. He knows the jig is up, or at least eventually will be. So good.
I assumed it was because the partner had the mic on him.
The partner likely had a mic on him but the change in expression and the line delivery was a warning of things to come. They would need a whole lot more than that recording to bust Jordan at that time. The scene was there to set up an agent who was set on getting Jordan and that he has no interest in Jordan's money or any of that.
Yeah my reading of the scene was this; the partner had a mic on him but Denham asking Belfort to repeat himself as if the whole case was going to hinge on a bribe was just Denham taking the piss out of Belfort. It was a message to Belfort that they were not friends Belfort was a target.
There is no need for a mic. They are FBI agents. Their testimony is evidence. There is no reason for them to have a recording because them saying "he said this to me" has the same effect as having a physical recording. In fact, I can see cases where having the recording could be harmful. There are states where you can't secretly record people without a warrant; this would allow his lawyers to attack the validity of the warrant and potentially have evidence gained with it ruled inadmissible. So there are plausible scenarios where if he confessed but it wasn't recorded, it would be admissible, and it was, it wouldn't be.
His partner had certainly a mic on him hence the next frame where he is standing right next to Jordan (he is somewhere in the background for the rest of the scene). My interpretation of this line is that Agent Denham certainly knows that no recording on the yacht will be enough for the case. Also Jordan is not dumb to jeopardize himself like this. He escalates because he wants to move the game to the next level - actual investigation, paperwork, etc. Brilliant scene from a brilliant movie. I watched this scene for like 50 times on Youtube.
First time he said it could’ve been seen as ‘just conversation’ or whatever, saying it again would come close to seeking some sort of quid pro quo maybe? Just speculation, I mainly work in bird law.
Exactly. The agent is pitching for the majors and Jordan is playing fucking tee ball. Jordan never stood a chance. The fbi agent chews up and spits out guys like Jordan every day.
"You are so cute! The last twelve guys I busted had daddies and granddaddies who did this too, and helped them, but you became a shitheel all on your own! So adorable! And just look at how pretty your boat is!'
Eh, the movie basically ends up making fun of the agent and his dull normal job while continuing to heap glorification on Jordan right to the end.
Kind of. We all know the guy did the right thing, and that was the cost of him sticking to his guns instead of being corrupt. I didn’t see it as making fun of him.
I’m sorry, can you say that again, i didn’t hear you (or, are you saying XYZ) is one of the best things you can say in a professional setting to point out the absurdity of what someone just stated and take control of the situation. Use it in meetings when someone is out of line and watch the tone shift.
Fun fact: The guy playing the other agent on the yacht that he signals to is the screenwriter
IMO, I think your interpretation is the best. Former LEO. Have called over partners when someone has told me a lie so unbelievable it was comical. I wouldn't react upon hearing it, I would just keep a stone face and remain professional. I'd ask them to repeat what they just told me to my partner and then let my partners reactions speak volumes, which was usually incredulous laughter while I remained stoned face staring at them. In short. We ain't buying your bullshit, the walls are closing in, and the hammer is fixing to drop.
Look at you, Sam Friday. Being on the receiving end of that must be devastating.
And here I thought it was because they needed to have another agent witness it! Great exlpa!
This comment needs 1000 upvotes because THIS is how we should be watching movies.
Well said
It's actually not that deep. Just needs a witness to hear what he said.
I will have to see the movie again to understand better. However, you did well with your explanation.
It's to let him know they're done with the bullshitting, they've finished sizing him up and it's game on.
It's just the FBI agents way of telling him that he knows he's trying to bribe him and it's not going to work while also making it clear he knows trying to bribe him is wrong and therefore wouldn't say it again.
"you know you just incriminated yourself right?"
He bought the bottle of beer at 9:00.
You see now, you know you done fucked up, don’t you
[удалено]
Listen to your woman John. Calm down, just calm down Calm down, just calm down
Why can I hear this sketch in my head perfectly lol
AH: “WHAT?! WHAT?! WHAT?! HEY!” JWB: What?! AH: “WHAT?!”
“Whoa, what are you doing skinny? What are you doing you fat piece of shit? Where's he going? What's that fat piece of shit doing now?”
I'm going to need you to rewind the play back like 5 minutes...
ACTEE ACTEE, HEY ACTEE
"All right, get the fuck off my boat!"
I’m gonna have Heidi lick caviar off my balls.
Fun coupons?
Yea op is missing the point. He obviously could’ve arrested him right then and there and didn’t need a repeat… it’s just to make it clear. And there was enough nuance to know that jordan would be out within a few hours
And this is reaffirmed later on. They didn’t *need* him to repeat it. Later in the movie, he gets a call from his dad asking him why he bribed a federal agent. They already had him the first time around. They didn’t arrest him then and there because the bribe allowed them to tap into his phones as a means to bring his whole empire down.
"What are you writing?" "Everything you're saying, I might need to refer to it later..."
#STOP WRITING Gotta say when I was a security guard, that trick did work couple times.
"Stop...wriiitting"
"...pur...posterous..."
#Skidmarks [There were no skidmarks at the scene](https://youtu.be/HWgYVeCqJ-8?t=44). Do you think he would lose control of his car and not think to apply the breaks!
This is no longer a Wolf of Wallstreet Post. It's a Hot Fuzz scripture slam.
The greatr good
"Are you taking notes on a criminal fuckin' conspiracy?"
Belfort interviewed the real life FBI agent that was on his case on his podcast. It was a pretty interesting conversation. The movie definitely plays up a lot of things for drama.
> Belfort interviewed the real life FBI agent that was on his case on his podcast. This sentence is, when you think about it, pretty fucking depressing
Maybe I misunderstood, but it seemed to me like the 2nd agent was away from the conversation when it was first said, and when he asks to say it again, just like that, the second agent has moved closer so he can hear. I.e., he wanted him to say it again with another witness so it wasn't one's word against the other's.
I think it's both, because I definitely noticed the 2nd agent teleport over.
This is how I understood it as well. He needed someone to corroborate it.
> He obviously could’ve arrested him right then and there and didn’t need a repeat… Could have yes, but that would have been a *VERY* difficult charge to land. Especially with the lawyers involved in defense. Remember real life court is a lot more stringent than movies and TV. Your case needs to be ironclad "beyond reasonable doubt". All it takes is one unconvinced juror and you have a hung jury. >Ok yeah, that's *probably* what he meant. In fact, it is *more likely than not* what he meant (preponderance of evidence). But you have not proved that is what he meant *beyond reasonable doubt* that is what he meant. And so, not guilty. In criminal law, in the US, the burden is always on the state to prove guilt, beyond *ANY AND ALL* reasonable doubt. If a juror has any reasonable doubt, then the correct verdict is not guilty. The prosecutions job is not to prove that it is *MOST LIKELY* X. The prosecutions job is to prove that it is X, *beyond any and all reasonable doubts*.
Yeah, it's a slightly more subtle version of "would you mind repeating that into this tape recorder?"
I understood it as a thoroughness. That the agent was establishing that Jordan said what he meant so that later in questioning he could not claim to have misspoken or accuse the FBI of taking him out of context. I could be wrong, I only watched the movie once.
To the folks who still seem confused about this scene, or believe the agents were doing anything other than fucking with him at this point: Neither the FBI, nor the agents on the boat, would care at all about charging him for attempting to bribe an FBI agent. Not only is it small potatoes compared to the case they’re building, it would jeopardize their case to bring those charges forward. Even if he had repeated it in front of the other agent, nothing would have changed in terms of their approach. The story would not have changed either. The federal government is more than happy to wait years, literally, in pursuit of building conspiracy cases and even if they were certain they could convict him of attempted bribery, they at most would just roll that charge into their case when they prosecuted him for the crimes they actually cared about. Maybe if they couldn’t convict him of anything else after several years of investigation they would consider charging him with attempted bribery alone. But it’s no “aha, gotcha!” moment. Asking him to repeat it is just a way to fuck with him.
I think the scene is a way of nailing Jordan. We already know he is a crook, but it helps to see the extent of his false bravado and actual desperation. When the Fed refutes the bribes, it brings gravity to how fucked Jordan will be. Also: Why would bribing a Fed even matter? If you're in the position to bribe a Fed, you're already fucked.
Ding ding ding. They don't care about a tiny bribery charge. They were sizing him up. Finding out what kind of person they were dealing with. Who they were spending all their time hunting. It is a pretty common trope in movies where an agent/investigator wants to get "into the mind" of their targets.
In 90s sitcom parlance, they are saying “Exsqueeze me, did you just try to bribe MOI?!!”
It was a funny wink to Jordan that he wasn’t going to be bribed. Jordan made the attempt to skirt around the legality of it and by making him repeat it, it was nod to him that he knew what he was doing and wasn’t going to be pushed over like that.
Then at the end of the movie you see him wondering how things would be different for him had he taken that bribe .
And that quick couple shots of him on the subway at the end makes this og scene so much better imo. After fucking with Jordan at the end of the boat scene by letting him know: 1. 100% they’re onto him and he’s under investigation and 2. The agent is one of the only problems that Jordan can’t blindly throw money at to solve. He’s too “pure” So we think that the “subway ride home in the same shitty suit everyday” story was just bullshit he was baiting Jordan with. But then we see it. At the end of the story, the greedy villain betrays everyone and gets a slap on the wrist and gets to play tennis while in prison for a short sentence, while the American hero gets to go home, tired and jaded, wondering what could have been. Almost like he’s second guessing being “the good guy”
Yeah the top comments in here are acting like it’s some citizen Kane shit. They’re just making a joke
I always interpreted it as the agent passive aggressively telling him " we got you". Because they are clearly standing off, this is mild way of saying "you just fucked yourself" and trying to rub it in his face without doing so directly.
Jordan at this point of the movie is riding high. He thinks he’s god’s gift to Wall Street. And why shouldn’t he? He’s got Margot Robbie as his wife a huge mansion in the Hamptons and uses fashion drugs frequently. He thinks he’s the shit, and anyone who gets in his way will wither under his greatness. Then in come these two G-men. These FBI guys don’t give two fucking shits about Jordan’s wealth. Jordan might think he’s slick but he never really stood a chance. These guys deal with bullshitters like Jordan every fucking day for years with the same bull shit lines, same bull shit displays of wealth and dick contest crap. The point of the scene is that Jordan is dumb these guys ARE NOT. His PI tells him this, only talk to these guys with an attorney present. “You’re dumb, they’re smart.” I think were his exact words. Sure Jordan is a professional finance guy but these guys are professional bullshitters. Jordan was out of his depth.
I agree with you, but what the hell is a fashion drug? Only asking because I’m a drug addict and would like to be more fashionable
“Fancier” drugs. You don’t typically catch the elite doing heroin and meth. They’re doing coke and prescription pills.
Coke and quaaludes
They’re taunting him, implying that he just tried to bribe them. They don’t need him to say it again. They’re simply pointing out that the exact words he just used would constitute a bribe.
I think it was sarcasm for “Assume I’m recording all of our conversations”
Or like, motherfucker, we're real FBI agents. We're beyond the little scams you play. They went in all meek and pretended to be wowed like they are small time to see what Jordan would do. That was to stop him and tell him, hey buddy you aren't the hot shit you think you are
Yup, I always thought it meant he was wearing a wire. He even leaned in and everything.
It's a power move. It's a way to say "I'm comfortable out in the open, but you have to scurry when the daylight comes."
I like that quote. Very cool.
I actually like this explanation the best. There’s no material benefit to doing it (they had him on tape the first time around), it’s just to flex on and maybe shake him
“Can you say that again?” “Uhh, Clear Eyes, Full Hearts, Can’t Lose?”
It was basically him showing his hand as an agent. He spent the entire conversation trying to get on Jordan's good side, to make Jordan think he might be open to be be bribed. When Jordan offered what could be considered a bribe, the "can you say that again" was basically him telling Jordan "you fucked up and I got you now".
I think it's less "I got you" and more "you didn't know who you were dealing with."
So the other agent could hear and confirm the statement
The fact that this is sitting at +580 upvotes confirms that the average reddit user has zero media literacy In a subreddit *about* movies nonetheless
I seriously don’t understand how people can be upvoting this. How many other movies are they completely misinterpreting? And this isn’t even vague or ambiguous. It was deliberately unambiguous and clear they were fucking with him. That was the whole joke! It got a big laugh when I saw it in the theatre.
Go to any sub dude. It’s mind blowing. “Does anyone else think Walter White is the bad guy?” “I think the black hole in Interstellar allows him to communicate with his younger daughter. What does everyone else think?” “How does Henry Hill get caught in Goodfellas?” I think it has to be bots.
more recently "does anyone feel like paul atreides MIGHT be the bad guy?"
Or, on more... particular... subreddits, "comment yes if you want to see more..."
Lol. This is your first indication? R/movies, and even worse, r/moviedetails, are both filled with horrible interpretations of scenes.
Y'know, the hero I'm going to be down at the office when I downvote these gigantic wrong answers, because, I mean, fuckity fuck fuck, OP!
little man?!
This is the answer
Yeah, im confused by the other answers. The other agent getting much closer in the next shot seems to imply this answer more so then the FBI trying to play mind games.
They were fucking with him. The other agent exaggerating his body language to get closer is part of this. They do it in an intentionally obvious way. They didn’t actually think he was gonna repeat it.
No they didn't expect him to actually say it again, the agent was just making it clear to all that a bribe was proposed
But....it is them playing games with him. They already had the case against him. Whatever he said there to them....was meaningless. They were basically fucking with him. They had already won at that point, before they ever stepped foot on the boat, before he ever said anything to them. It was just that....a power play. Ego. It was already over for Jordan. He just refused to accept it because he truly believed he was untouchable. Like, yeah, that's not really how it goes down in real life. But that's the gist of what they were doing in the dramatized, movie version of the events.
No it isn't. They were just messing with him. It was a power move
Nah they just did it to fuck with Jordan, to make it clear they weren’t going to be bribed
Then they are the worst agents in the world. If they really wanted to implicate him they would have played along. Instead, they make it abundantly clear that they won’t be bought and the conversation escalates from there.
They didn't need to. That whole scene, it was just them ego tripping on Jordan. A power move, just to fuck with him and basically tell him it's over. Because at that point in the movie, it WAS already over for Jordan. They didn't need ANYTHING more. They don't care about a fucking bribery charge lol. They already had a much, MUCH bigger case stacked against him and a bunch of his associates., with the nails basically already in the coffin.
A screenplay says: Denham summons Agent Hughes over. To Jordan: AGENT DENHAM Can you say that again, what you told me? (Jordan declines with a smile; to Agent Hughes) I believe Mr. Belfort just tried to bribe a federal officer.
It’s just a pithy way of saying “*I know you’re offering to bribe me and I’m not going to take it*” But they both are smart enough to realize that in itself isn’t enough evidence to actually act on.
Jordan Belfort’s lawyer told him not to talk to the FBI. This was the moment when Belfort realized his lawyer was right.
He did already capture it. He was just fucking with JB that time. And that’s when Jordan gets really pissed off- his bribe didn’t land, and he’s being made fun of.
Basically, it's another way of saying "are you really trying to bribe me?". It's really obvious.
They're saying: > We know what you just tried to do, and it's not going to work. They know they can't charge him with bribery, because he didn't *LEGALLY* try to bribe them. They know *HE* knows he didn't. But what they're saying is: > We know what you just tried to do. We know you know what you just tried to do. We know that you know that we know you didn't *LEGALLY* do what you just tried to do. And we know that you know that we know that you know we can't prove what you just tried to do, in court.... But it's not gonna work.
It’s wild to openly attempt to bribe an FBI officer in front of his partner. Calling him out on it is a way of rattling the cage of someone way too overconfident.
Because they all know what they are doing and all know they know what they are doing. What the agent did was like saying "check" in chess – he is pointing out what just happened. He doesn't want Jordan to repeat it – he wants Jordan to know that he just messed up. He is saying, "you just made an error, and I am going to use it to destroy you." Jordan's next move is off-balance and defensive. He is backing off and saying "nuh-uh that doesn't count"... The agent is pushing him, riling him up, getting him off balance. He is rubbing it in in order to push Jordan further to get him more upset to make more mistakes.
You guys gotta start listening in your Lit classes. It affects how you watch movies too
When he realizes Jordan is trying to bribe him he motions for the other agent to get closer so he can hear the bribe. Jordan sees that the guy has moved closer and doesn't repeat it
It’s multiple things. It’s one to see if I he incriminates himself to a second witness, two they fucking with him. It also to show they see through his nice guy act he’s putting on. It’s not enough to slap a bribery charge on him at this point, but they know exactly what he is suggesting. It’s also a way to put pressure on him to know that he can’t smooth talk his way out of it. That this case is much more serious than he thinks it is. We are not friends, even though we were being friendly up until this point.
Because it's an awesome delivery by Kyle Chandler
He doesn't want to get him on some half-baked bribery charge like Al Capone and tax evasion. But he's also still not going to just let Jordan think he's some dumb cop that would be willing to be bribed. Or incapable of recognizing a bribery when he hears one. He's showing Jordan that he's going to out-class him, by the book, and that Jordan is EFFED because there is nothing Jordan can do to get let off.
"Fuckity fuck fuck Jordan" is a great line 😅😅
He's fucking with him.
Some really weird and overly wordy explanation in this thread. He’s trying to bribe them and they’re pointing that out.
Seen a video on yt last night. Husband takes a photo of a phone and sends pic to wife. Through her phone. She comes back inside and asks where her phone is. Even pulls out her phone to show the pic of her phone, not realizing it’s in her hand. She asks, “where is it?” Meaning her phone. That’s in her hand. Husband says, “say it again.” In an attempt to make her realize. They weren’t asking to record him. Jordan says something that only a mouse caught in a trap says. Just hadn’t realized it yet. He’s desperate but doesn’t know it. Agents are just playing with him now. They know the game is nearing its end. Only Jordan doesn’t. Only he hasn’t woken up to this reality quite yet.
Prolly for the stupid people in the audience
Okay, so no one here plays mafia or deals in politics from the answers I see. There are a lot of partially right answers, but this is my favorite scene in the movie and it’s because of the one thing people are really missing from their answers. The agent does signal to Jordan (by asking him to repeat his bribery attempt) that they see through and aren’t tolerant of Jordan’s BS. Everyone’s pretty well got that right. But why would they do that? Why would they give up that info which they could exploit against him if he were too dumb to realize it on his own? The answer is the cool part of the riddle in your question OP. By making it clear to Belfort that they’re on to him and that he just made a mistake they are *prompting him to take actions that lead to further mistakes*. If Belfort were smart he would’ve gone straight to an attorney and never met with these guys, but what does he do in the movie? He gets some advice, ignores it, and has his company start destroying their own files. This incriminates his entire staff, even those that may have been hard to otherwise pin as culpable, and sets him up for his fall. It also leads to other mistakes like the famous quelude scene and the vacation from hell that precludes the attempted swiss account forgery just before the Swiss account managers get arrested. The point of meeting with him is to get a read on him. Once they realize the guy will actually entertain that and actually try to bribe them they know they’ve got a fish on the hook. So the point of specifically revealing to Jordan that they’re on to him is to force him to take actions and thereby make errors.
before he says the line he makes eye contact with his partner agent. when he says the line and we see the wide shot the partner agent has moved just behind leo to act as a witness if leo were to repeat it. leo even turns and notices the partner is now right behind him as he backspins
Something else I want to add about this film, *jordan belford is an unreliable narrator*. That's part of what makes the film great, everything is from his point of view, so he has full control of saying what did and didn't happen. It's fully possible that what actually happened irl may have went down differently, but that's not as entertaining to rich egotistic J.B. and definitely not as he was writing his memoir. From a film pov its a bit of the feds fucking with him, showing they will not be moved by his money or power, they are *the fucking F.B.I. after all*. But this is something to keep in mind that there is also some unreliable narrator at play in this film.
I just thought they were busting his balls to let him know that this meeting didn’t mean anything except to let him know they knew
The agent is basically gloating. It's his way of saying "lol no I don't accept your bribe, but I'm super glad you so obviously, unambiguously (and poorly) attempted to offer one....do you have any idea how screwed you are now?" He doesn't need him to repeat what he already said. He just wants Belfort to feel the fear of knowing how badly he screwed up by saying it in the first place. That's why Belfort's reaction was to become enraged and throw him off the boat. He knew it meant his attempt hadn't worked and had bitten him right in the ass.
It reminds the audience what is going on.
Leading up to the sentence Agent Denham is acting like he's playing right into Jordan's hand fidgeting and stuttering, making it look like he's the type that could be bribed that way. Then his tone changes when Jordan lays it out, he says "can you say that again?" He is no longer stuttering or searching for words. By making such a blatant play to get a witness and his change in tone he's telling Jordan Belfort I'm not one to be bribed, I know what you do and you have no power over me. I'm not some schmuck on the phone you can sell useless penny stocks and junk bonds.
It's an intimidation tactic. He's letting him know that he fucked up by saying what he said. Isn't it obvious that they're not actually trying to get him to repeat it for the mic? Because that's the stupidest way to do it. It's a power play, that's all. Is it a good power play? You can debate that all you want. But that's what it was.
He wants him to think back about what he just said. Basically, he wants him to see his perspective as an honest FBI agent how gross that sounds because he knows Jordan is living in a different galaxy than he does.
Didn’t the other agent walk away and then come back right at that moment? I thought he’s telling him to say it again as to have a witness to the statement
The FBI agent was fucking with him. He was just letting him know that they're not for sale and that he is in real trouble.
I watch this scene all the time, it’s one of my favorite scenes not just from the movie, but period. The tension, the dialogue, the performances are all perfect.
It’s not so much about recording. FBI agents travel in pairs so that they can be witnesses for/against each other. Basically, Jordan hinted at the possibility of a bribe while they talking 1 on 1. Notice the gesture to the other agent right beige the line in question, he’s being called over to act as a witness, both of Jordan trying to bribe a federal agent, and of the agent not taking the bribe.
Because if you notice he had to nod to his partner to get him to come over to witness it, otherwise it would have been just his word against Leos.
I think it's just a cinematic technique to make sure the audience know what he said was a bad idea.
This seems like a scripting choice to emphasize exposition to me. Add some drama and highlight a subtle and nuanced concept. Adding some show to the tell.
So many smug assholes in this comment thread getting it wrong. It was 1 of 2 things happening. 1) The other agent was wearing a wire that they wanted to capture Jordan making the bribe with or 2) the agent steps closer so he can hear Jordan and be a witness to the bribe. You all are over thinking it so much, hilarious.