Review of The Great Gatsby (2013) by Leigh H — 26 Dec 2014

Being familiar enough now with Baz Luhrmann's style when he directs a "block buster" I wasn't surprised by the kaleidoscope of imagination, set design, style, colour, substance, cinematography, costume design, and especially music or anything else depicted within the walls that be "The Great Gatsby". In saying that though these are the things that make this film work so well. The camera work is outstanding as well as the CGI it utilizes to get that perfect shot. There is an animated feel about the film that works so brilliantly with its outstanding stylised well-choreographed numbers. When we first enter a great party it's a carnival of fun, with over the top peacock inspired dresses and its 1960's style flappers it just screams out style, it gives you a need and lust to want to be there right in the midst of all these strangers who just want to have a good time that only ever ends because the sun is coming up. The set designs and materials are a work of art within themselves, with its massive houses, custom designed cars and picture perfect rooms it leaves you in a state of awe as the pictures just get better and bigger.

So the way the film has been made blew me away in fact I couldn't of asked for anything more, unfortunately though the story was another thing altogether Started off very fast paced and I could feel myself losing the story a little very early on, people talking but not saying very much left me a little confused, not ever reading the book or seeing the original film I was all new to this tale and hoped it was going to come together sooner rather than later. When the title character was brought in to the story I picked up where it wanted to go.

Once again the story is told through the eyes of a writer efforts are made to explain his background but not enough, there was a lot more I wanted to know, a lot of answers to questions I kept asking that were never divulged making me a little frustrated, not just questions about the writer but about everyone, about every character, characters were introduced without any reason. Then there were the few characters who made up the film, there's something about fake accents that really annoy me and Aussie Joel Edgerton does an amazing job at his fake American accent. I hated it from his first syllable to the last and he has a lot to say unfortunately. Very unlikable characters who I'm sure are meant to be that way, I even ended up wanting to slap the main lead character played by Tobey Maguire at one point due to his lack of personality.

Huge all-star cast with Tobey McGuire as Nick Carraway, Leonardo DiCaprio as Jay Gatsby, Isla Fischer as Myrtle Wilson, Carey Mulligan as Daisy Buchanan, Joel Edgerton as Tom Buchanan, Elizabeth Debicki as Jordan Baker. Thousands are going to disagree with me here but I found not the acting performances but the characters themselves lifeless, I believe they could have been so much more than what they were given especially the men. The women on the other hand were flawless they had more to offer and did a fantastic job with it.

It's the story of love lost and then found been told endless times, but never with so much life as Baz introduces.

All in all Gatsby is worth seeing just for its magnificence and the way it makes you wish you could be a part of it all.

3 out of 5 BanShee Screams.

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#thegreatgatsby.