'Buffaloed' is basically 'The Wolf of Wall Street' minus everything that made that movie great. Now that might sound harsh, so it is important to remember that 'The Wolf of Wall Street' was one of the finest movies made last decade. Almost any film that finds itself being compared to it is going to come up well short. That being said, this film did have some noticeable flaws that desperately needed to be addressed.
I'm a big fan of Zoey Deutch. In fact she was probably the only thing that actually got me over the line towards seeing this movie. I've liked her in pretty everything she's been in. The problem is that she isn't quite a strong enough actress yet to carry a film all by herself. She did an adequate job in 'Before I Fall' but that also had a really strong story for her to fall back on and didn't require her acting to be at its absolute peak. 'Buffaloed' on the other did require that. She is actually given a lot to work with here. The script lets her roam free and gives her some incredibly energetic dialogue to utilise. They were basically trying to make her the female version of Jordan Belfort and match Leonardo DiCaprio's performance. A dream role for a lot of actresses, but certainly not an easy one to nail.
The film also has a lot of trouble deciding exactly what genre it wanted to fall into. Some scenes feel like they are trying to be an out and out comedy, while others feel like it is trying to take itself very seriously. The problem is that neither of these are done very well. I don't think I laughed once through the run time, but I also never took the story seriously enough to actually care about what was going to happen next.
All that said, the film is far from unwatchable. The concept is mildly interesting when you stop poking holes in it and just accept it for what it is. They also did a very good job of making Jai Courtney's character particularly evil and ensuring the audience cared about his fate. That was probably the strongest aspect of the film come to think of it. Still though, it isn't enough to save what was a pretty forgettable experience and not one I would recommend spending your hard earned on.
