When looking at great Hollywood duos a few powerhouses come to mind; George Lucas and Steven Spielberg, Batman and Robin, and even Kirk and Spock. However few pairings are as compelling as the brilliant director and actor combo of Martin Scorsese and Leonardo DiCaprio. They debuted as a team in 2002 with their brilliant film Gangs of New York and have since reunited on four other movies including their most recent collaboration, The Wolf of Wall Street.

People often wonder why certain directors persist to seemingly limit themselves by returning to a particular actor or actress over multiple projects. The answer is simple: Why mess with a good thing? Scorsese has a knack for brilliant casting choices.  Thanks to the ease and trust he builds with his casts, stars choose to continue working with him in future projects. His ability to draw out nuanced performances from his actors is never more clearly demonstrated than in the eight films he made with Robert De Niro.

DiCaprio’s talent for portraying egocentric and self-indulgent characters has served Scorsese’s love of historical and crime dramas well. Popular not only with critics but also audiences, in films like The Aviator, DiCaprio demonstrated a uniquely subtle talent to make even the most unsympathetic characters relatable if still not entirely likeable.

Gangs of New York, The Departed, The Aviator, and Shutter Island all have a few things in common: brilliant direction, fantastic story development, and plenty of attention during awards season. Early audience reactions to Wolf of Wall Street indicate it is sure continue in the footsteps of previous Scorsese/DiCaprio collaborations and find its way home to Oscar nominations for both men.

The Wolf Of Wall Street opens Nationwide Christmas Day