Review of The Great Gatsby (2013) by Jdubz — 12 May 2013

I think that, ultimately, The Great Gatsby is a success for Baz, and especially for the actors. Personally, I feel that Baz's over-the-top style works for the source material, where major themes include materialism, greed, and flaunting of wealth.

I think that the movie does an amazing job of commenting on all of the social aspects that are discussed in Fitzgerald's novel. The only reason I could see people being upset about this film is because of the soundtrack.

Personally, I loved the integration of old and new music, I think it is a good way to bring Gatsby to a moder audience and it shows how relevant the novel still is, but I could see where people would not agree.

Besides the directing and scenic design, I also think that the acting was superb. DiCaprio did an amazing job portraying the complicated character that is Gatsby. Edgerton and Mulligan did a great job portraying the Buchanans.

I also liked how many of the lines in the script came *directly* from the novel, for instance "Gatsby, What Gatsby?" is one of the most famous lines in literature, and I was excited to see that it was kept in, along with many others.

Only two things really bothered me about the film. 1, the insistant words that showed up on screen. It would have been fine for one or two scenes, but it became annoying after a while in my opinion. And 2, the fact that Nick Carraway has discussions with a doctor throughout the film to write a book about Gatsby, I dont understand why it could not have been narrated without an excuse of an explanation, which was not in the original novel.