The Great Gatsby (2013)
An adaptation of F. Scott Fitzgerald's Long Island-set novel, where Midwesterner Nick Carraway is lured into the lavish world of his neighbor, Jay Gatsby. Soon enough, however, Carraway will see through the cracks of Gatsby's nouveau riche existence, where obsession, madness, and tragedy await.
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This film is probably the most visually stunning I've ever seen. Luhrmann's style is just breathtaking.
After reading it my first year in college and being completely mesmerized, I wasn't completely thrilled with the 1974 version (critics agreed). Mia Farrow's performance was a bit over the top, but the movie, as a whole, captured the magic, sadness and despair of the book. (Karen Black & Sam Waterston were the standout performances.) But this? I could barely watch it all in one sitting, it was that bad. Poorly acted. Poorly representative of the book, and rap and modern music? It is just pure, disrespectful garbage. DiCaprio's performance was a joke and totally unbelievable. He obviously never read the book, or he was completely unable to glean any of the emotion or meaning of his character from it. I actually laughed hysterically at how poor his performance was at times. The only saving grace of this movie (or the reason for the single star) was Carey Mulligan's performance. While I don't think she portrayed Daisy correctly in any way (not fragile enough), she is always a joy to watch. And to IMDB, if you are worried about "spoilers" with regard to The Great Gatsby? I realize it's on every title, but if you don't know the story by now, that's a very sad testament to this great piece of literature. It certainly was greatly disrespected by this director and TPTB who made this travesty. Fitzgerald is spinning in his grave.
Pros: As I said in the title, the visuals are beautiful. Although I would've liked the world outside of Gatsby's parties to be a little less colourful in order to make them seem even more spectacular, I am mainly satisfied with what I've been given. The plot of 'The Great Gatsby' is great, however; this is not because of the movie. The story originates from F. Scott Fitzgerald so therefore; I will not give this movie any higher a rating because of it.Cons: After someone says something during a conversation in this film, someone else says their reply to that nearly instantly. This leads to the dialogue in this film feeling unnatural. The acting is mostly alright except for Tobey Maguirre's eyes which I found to be more hilarious than any of Amy Schumer's jokes combined. The music adds to the feeling of this movie being an oscar grab due to it just not belonging. I'm sure there was a way to incorporate the same songs into the movie better but they have not done that. The length of this film is too short. Yes, I admit, I hate watching this movie. But if it had instead taken its time with its storytelling, I'm sure I would have given it at least 2 more stars.Summary: If I were being forced to watch it again, It wouldn't make me want to die.
I'm gonna start off by saying that this is not vitriol related to the book. I didn't think the book was really spectacular. It was an interesting period piece for sure, but it really didn't catch me or move me. This movie. This...this thing, this creation. It's not worthy anyone's time. Baz Luhrmann as a director has no idea what the hell he's doing. His Romeo and Juliet film was dumb enough on its own (Dancing with guns, enough said), but this film started off in the bottom of the barrel and dug a basement for itself, then fell through to Hell. The beginning sets a bad enough precedent; Nick is apparently institutionalized for anger issues and alcoholism that were never present in the story, and the plot device of him being institutionalized is ultimately pointless. Why the hell would you make such a stupid change when it's largely inconsequential? The infusion of modern radio music leaves me scratching my head even now. The actors for Tom and Nick actually fit their characters relatively well, and DiCaprio does a great job as usual, but for chrissake even their acting couldn't save this trainwreck. If it wasn't for the safety net of the source material, only god knows how much worse Luhrmann could've made this.