Movie Review: "The Great Gatsby"

Things aren’t looking good for American Literature fans who have awaited the arrival of Director Baz Luhrmann’s interpretation of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s novel, “The Great Gatsby.” The story is narrated through the personal accounts of Nick Carraway (Tobey Maguire, Spider Man) as he unravels the details of his experiences from living in New York amidst the glitz and glamour of a scandalous affair involving his cousin Daisy Buchanan (Carey Mulligan, Drive) and the mystery man himself, Jay Gatsby (Leonardo DiCaprio, Titanic, Inception).While the film is set in the early days of the Flapper Girl, it’s fairly easy to forget the actual timeline since the filmmakers have integrated a soundtrack much more conducive to a current Pop/R&B/Rap variety. Surely enough in the attempt to make the story relatable to today’s younger audience (the same mistake Luhrmann makes in his 1996 rendition of Romeo & Juliet [also starring DiCaprio]) remains a gigantic mistake that affords a huge disservice to the integrity of the film as it is supposed to take place in the 1920’s.

(c) 2013 | Warner Bros. Pictures and Bazmark Films

The movie’s cinematography is fairly stunning with respectable camera movement, stellar angles and sufficient lighting. But with only mediocre acting and poorly delivered New Yorker accents, the film will surely annoy anyone with the redundant use of the term “old sport” which is said every couple minutes throughout the entirety of the movie. As important as it is in every movie, the pace of The Great Gatsby drags along slowly like an attack of influenza. What was produced in over 2 hours could have fit the standard 90 minute movie mold. The only award deserving element would be to DiCaprio who flawlessly puts on the façade of living a lie. Too little too late however, the overall acting improves only in the final 30 minutes through to the indignant ending that is sure to leave anyone with sour taste in their mouth. The Great Gatsby could easily be identified as an end-product you’d receive when you mix the promiscuity and booze soaked deceptions of Mad Men with the ludicrous beaches and drama from Jersey Shore.

I rate this film 3 out of 5 stars for the basis that it can still be enjoyed only if you try extremely hard enough.