In this scene from 2013’s The Wolf of Wall Street, Jordan Belfort (Leonardo DiCaprio) hosts a meeting with two federal agents on his yacht.  Jordan knows that the agents want to put him in prison but that they don’t have enough evidence as of yet.  The main agent (played by Kyle Chandler) knows that Jordan’s arrogance is his greatest weakness.

This scene, with its faux friendly banter and it’s iconic shot of Jordan throwing money to the wind, is one of Scorsese’s best “confrontation” scenes.  DiCaprio and Chandler perfectly play the two adversaries.  Jordan knows that the agent is determined to catch him but Jordan also knows the agent will never be rich and there’s no way Jordan’s not going to remind him of that every chance that he gets.  The passive aggressiveness of it all is truly a wonder to watch and, in its way, just as intimidating as the conversations between the gangsters who populate many of Martin Scorsese’s other films.

Of course, with the election tomorrow and the party of big, intrusive government projected to make big gains, I also can’t help but enjoy watching a government agent being spoken too with unapologetic disrespect.

From The Wolf of Wall Street: