Review of The Great Gatsby (1974) by John B — 23 Oct 2008
What a failure of a movie. Not everything is wrong with this, but the most important parts of the book, Central Character Development, are just missing. Redford, as fantastic an actor as he is, can only do so much with a crappy script, but when you mix Mia Farrow in the mix (any mix for that matter), you get a disaster.
The cinematography may be expensive and splendid, but this movie fails in the story department. Shifting the focus to a love story over an examination of the American Dream and the development of Gatsby to achieve that dream, the movie just feels flat, generic and completely worthless.
Not only is it worthless, but the pacing and editing are so off that you tend to forget what is actually going on in the story. The one ray of light (and maybe worth the price of one viewing) is an early Sam Waterson as the main narrator, Nick.
His performance is perfect for the role with a subdued voice and assertiveness that matches the book character perfect. Maybe not have reading the novel would have improved my opinion on the film, but with such glaring flaws that even a film school graduate wouldn't make, The Great Gatsby is just horrible.
This review of The Great Gatsby (1974) was written by John B on 23 Oct 2008.
The Great Gatsby has generally received mixed reviews.
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