Now I haven't really done the best job of keeping up with this blog like I said I would but to make up for that I will be writing three reviews tonight and tomorrow. There was supposed to be one about Moonrise Kingdom but that will be up later along with a review on the new film Now You See Me. But right we are going to focus on The Great Gatsby.
I went to see The Great Gatsby on my birthday because I absolutely love the book, I have read probably a dozen times, and was SO excited when I found out they were making an adaptation. (I am aware of the adaptation with Mia Farrow and Robert Redford and I do love that one too). I wasn't so excited though when I found out Ba Luhrmann was going to be the one directing the adaptation. Now I love Moulin Rouge! and Romeo + Juliet as much as the next person but that is because of their over-the-top nature and just how ridiculous they are. Moulin Rogue! is a really heart wrenching story but it drags and Romeo + Juliet we all know is creative but silly. I don't even want to get into Luhrmann's other film Australia because it is just such a catastrophe.
But even after all that I was still hopeful, and then the worst thing that could ever happen happened. They casted Tobey Maguire. Mr. Maguire has many offenses against him including bad acting, ugly crying, and Seabiscut. But his worst offense his the desecration of Spiderman so to me the worst thing that could ever happen to the adaptation of my favorite book happened. I thought (and still think) Ewan McGregor would be the obvious choice for Nick, the Narrator and considering he and Luhramann had worked together before, I thought it was a no brainer, apparently I was wrong. If I could remake this movie, with all of its faults, the only thing I would do would be to cast McGregor instead because honestly that in of itself would greatly improve the film.
With regards to the film itself, at its very core it is entertaining and film's are meant to entertain, therefore on some level The Great Gatsby is a success. It is also a very faithful retelling of the novel, which is rare but definitely adds bonus points to how I feel about the movie. However, grievances I have are the following; the fact the Narrator is telling the story of the summer he spent with Gatsby from a Sanatorium (a sort-of mental institution), yeah I'm sorry what? How does that make any sense? Why does he need to be narrating from anywhere? Why can't there just be a narrator? And to top it off, Nick's opening narration sounds like he is really old and he his reminiscing about his life, but he's not even old! It's absurd and bizarre and although the character is the narrator, there is a thing as too much narration. There were maybe three or four scenes that weren't narrated. That's just too much. An example of a good balance of narration look at The Royal Tennenbaums.
There were also faults in the fact that there was so much heavy handed symbolism> The director makes it so obvious what the audience should be paying attention to and what's important and what that symbol means that I felt like he thought we were dumb and uneducated and that really turned me off.
But it wasn't all bad. Leonardo Dicaprio was genius as Gatsby and Carey Mulligan actually made me sympathize with Daisy, which took me by surprise because I can't stand Daisy in the book. So the acting was really top notch and I wasn't even that bothered by the hip-hop music in the 1920s (and this might be due to the fact I am used to Luhrmann's films) but the music did have a jazzy, sexy feel so it still managed to catch the tone of this time of decadence and extravagance.
But there was still something missing. It felt as though Luhrmann was so obsessed with pointing out how poorly Gatsby fit into high society that he completely ignored the issue of how old money people treated new money in the 1920s. Now obviously we saw moments when it's mentioned Gatsby doesn't really fit in because his wealth was inherited and his mansion is even on the "wrong" side of the Hamptons, however it felt as though this was pointed out because of the jealousy of Gatsby trying to win Daisy back. It's disappointing the issue was glossed over and I wish it had been explored more because it's such an interesting problem that arose during this time of abundance and wealth.
Keeping everything in mind and how well The Great Gatsby was adapted, I would have to give the film a seven out of ten because of the entertainment factor and it's unique adaptation.
