Review of The Great Gatsby (2013) by Nicole O — 18 Aug 2014

A magnificent and beautiful film to watch, The Great Gatsby captures the opulence but little else.

A magnificent and beautiful film to watch, The Great Gatsby captures the opulence but little else.

I purposely did not reread the book prior to watching the movie, having last read it some ten years ago, wanting to give Baz Luhrmann as much leniency toward a successful interpretation as possible. Even still, I recalled dialogue and characters torn from the book and it sounded wrong. The storyline is simplified into a doomed and tragic love story when it is, in fact, more complex. I recall traveling with Nick Carraway to the parties, at first drunk by the wealth and extravagance. But, then, like Nick, disillusioned as the characters' true faults become clearer as you are able to see past their lavish lifestyles, all the while feeling like an outsider due to the social divide. This growth is virtually nonexistent in the Baz Luhrmann invention.

Carey Mulligan as Daisy Buchanan, captured the vulnerability and desperate desire for love without becoming some feeble caricature. Though I recall disliking Daisy because she was indecisive, self-absorbed and therefore almost seemed manipulatively aware of the trouble she centers. Mulligan is the only one who produces a fully thought out character; all other characters from F. Scott Fitzgerald's novel are shells. Joel Edgerton's Tom Buchanan is an arrogant brute throwing his stature and prestige around, but there is little else. Tobey Maguire does a good job as a narrator but his Nick Carraway is half-formed; pliable and weak instead of easy-going and optimistic though slightly naïve. Jay Gatsby and Leonardo DiCaprio are mystifying, but not the ruthless man, startlingly, unwaveringly obsessive toward attaining what he wishes.

The sets and costumes are engrossing, intoxicating and wonderfully garish. The music is fun and modern yielding a transportive film. It is a great story, great film, but not the one F. Scott Fitzgerald wrote.