Review of The Great Gatsby (1974) by Manu T — 30 Dec 2003

[b][font=Times New Roman]Rated old PG for extreme scariness, brutal murders, and graphic suicides[/font][/b].

[font=Times New Roman]This movie was based on the book The Great Gatsby. Unfortunately, Gatsby has an unhappy ending, as do all the books I?ll be reading in English class in high school. The Great Gatsby presents an interesting setup with an interesting chain of love. I really enjoyed reading the first part of Gatsby; I saw the movie after reading the 1st 70% of the book.[/font].

[font=Times New Roman]I imagined the characters a little differently than this movie did. I thought Nick would be a little more crafty and a little more crafty-looking. Instead he looks like David Duchovny and is a loyal friend throughout. But that?s perfectly all right. Jay Gatsby looks like James Bond, especially the first time we see him. That was a little strange. I thought that Gatsby was strange, so I imagined him as strange looking. Daisy fit my expected picture, although strangely I thought I saw a girl that looked like her earlier today while I took my ACT test. Tom Buchanan looked like a character Will Ferrell would play on SNL.[/font].

[font=Times New Roman]But to the story we go. I noticed that many details were wrong! It was 5 years since Jay and Daisy saw each other, not 8! Jay notices that the rain has stopped, but the rain had stopped the previous day and not started again! Also, what happened to the airplane ride that Gatsby was supposed to give? Everything else was pretty true to the book as far as I knew.[/font].

[font=Times New Roman]I knew that there would be violence in this movie, but I was expecting it to be toned down more than it was. In fact, I think this movie might have been about as violent as The Matrix (or maybe even more!). There was a suicide in which a guy needlessly shows us where he is going to shoot himself! This scene, along with the previous scene, is stressed so that it messes up the otherwise calming tone of this film. In fact, this movie has some nice calming music, although some calm songs are played too much.[/font].

[font=Times New Roman]The Great Gatsby is an interesting look back into the 20?s, and it shed light on an interesting America, although the settings in this book are laughable (West Egg/ East Egg??) [/font].

[font=Times New Roman]Its ending really doesn?t prove much. Maybe it proves that it?s NOT good to create enemies, and that mistake is really the only flaw Gatsby has, and it?s why ?he turns out all right in the end?. This movie/book reminded me a lot of O Pioneers!, which is a good book until the ending rolls around. In that book Frank is hated. In this story, Tom is the evil one, a huge hypocrite. And there was even a huge flaw in what Mr. Wilson does near the end. Doesn?t he remember Tom driving that car and then claiming that he owned it? It?s strange enough that Jay and Tom drive each others? cars, but then why do they switch back to original cars? The whole problem of Mr. Wilson is a sad one and this movie gives no solution to solving the problems of this guy. Except maybe church, right? Because God?s eyes are on the billboard, right? And people all around him commit adultery oh so often. This movie unfortunately dwells on the downers that sometimes happen in real life, and of course I hate that. George was right and Nick is right in their thoughts of going west. Get away from all of the hell of life. That?s what spring breaks are for, and mine was partially lost by watching the real life unhappy ending of the Great Gatsby.[/font].

[font=Times New Roman]Opening: Just fine, worked well enough for me, and it cut down on the description. 15[/font].

[font=Times New Roman]Middle: 3 noticeable flaws. The music repeats and ruining tuxedos in the fountain parts ran a little too long. 12[/font].

[font=Times New Roman]Ending: 0[/font].

[font=Times New Roman]Visual: My eyes weren?t prepared for the violence. Plus, scenes of clothes flying everywhere were annoying. 7[/font].

[font=Times New Roman]Music: The credits? music was screwed up. It broke into songs like heck (almost like channel 7 produced the film). Music repeats too. 7[/font].

[font=Times New Roman]Bad content: Yikes! Violence too strong, and R. Kelly makes a needless appearance. 5[/font].

[font=Times New Roman]My expectations: Did OK with following the book, but I really was expecting a movie that wouldn?t disturb me that much. The rating PG gave me a sense of comfort that was shot away with the bad ending. 16[/font].

[font=Times New Roman]62% D-[/font].