There have many books over the years that have been referred to as the ‘Great American Novel’, a term used to represent a novel that is distinguished for accurately representing the mood and atmosphere of America at the time it was written. One of these novels is ‘The Great Gatsby’, author F. Scott Fitzgerald’s classic tale about one man’s attempts to woo the girl of his dreams during the Roaring Twenties. There have been a few film adaptations of the novel, with the most notable being a 1974 film written by Francis Ford Coppola which starred Robert Redford and Mia Farrow in the lead roles of Jay Gatsby and Daisy Buchanan, respectively. Now, in 2013, ‘Moulin Rouge’ director Baz Luhrmann helms a new adaptation of ‘Gatsby’ with a cast led by Leonardo DiCaprio as the titular Gatsby. As common in Luhrmann’s films, this new Great Gatsby has a unique visual flair to it but even amidst all of these crazy visuals, Lurhmann does a rock-solid job at telling Fitzgerald’s classic tale.
In the summer of 1922, Yale graduate Nick Carraway (Tobey Maguire) moves to Long Island, New York, taking a job as a bond salesman on Wall Street. He soon becomes intrigued by his next door neighbor, Jay Gatsby (Leonardo DiCaprio), a millionaire who hosts lavish parties at his mansion despite the fact that his guests (most of whom are never even invited to his parties; they just show up) don’t know anything about him. But as Nick and Gatsby become friends, Nick learns that Gatsby has been pursuing Daisy Buchanan (Carey Mulligan), Nick’s cousin who had been Gatsby’s lover five years ago when he was once a poor boy fighting in the war. The problem now, though, is that Daisy is married to the arrogant and imposing Tom Buchanan (Joel Edgerton). Nick soon gets caught up in Gatsby’s pursuits of Daisy, which soon begins to spiral out of control.
This is definitely Baz Luhrmann’s ‘The Great Gatsby’. The film is visually exciting from beginning to end, which gives this Gatsby an edge over previous adaptations in that regard. Not only are the visuals eye-catching, but Luhrmann also utilizes a pretty unique soundtrack in this movie. 1920’s jazz is mixed with modern rap music from artists like Jay-Z, Andre 3000, and Kanye West. It does actually work pretty well in the film because it doesn’t feel distracting. But while the film is certainly visually impressive, do the visuals overshadow the writing? Well, the writing is still pretty solid, getting across some of the key themes of the novel, such as the idea of excess as represented through the character of Gatsby to the decline of the American Dream. In terms of staying faithful to the novel, the film follows the book quite accurately with the only major exception being the way that the story is told, which does actually work from a film standpoint.
Casting is pretty much perfect, as each member of the cast fits their role perfectly. DiCaprio brings his A-game to the role of the mysterious but charming Gatsby. His Gatsby is actually easy to sympathize with even after the dark secret as to how he has earned money is revealed. As Nick, Maguire does a fantastic job of serving as the ‘audience’, seeing how he’s the one who’s narrating the story. While the character of Daisy is not a very complex one, Mulligan does bring a new level of emotional depth to the character that shines more in the film than in the book. As Tom, Edgerton does a fantastic job as the guy we straight-up despise. Finally, we also have a rock-solid supporting cast, including Isla Fisher as Tom’s mistress Myrtle, Jason Clarke as Myrtle’s pathetic husband George, and two excellent Hollywood film debuts from Elizabeth Debicki as Nick’s love interest Jordan Baker and Amitabh Bachchan as Gatsby’s shady friend Meyer Wolfsheim.
If you go into this movie expecting the usual visuals that are present in Baz Luhrmann’s films, you won’t be disappointed. This new adaptation of ‘The Great Gatsby’ is certainly the most visually exciting out of all of the adaptations of Fitzgerald’s novel that have come out before. It can be argued that the visuals sort of overshadow the writing, but as a whole, the writing is still very solid. It does stay true to the novel (for the most part) and its key themes are still present. It also does help that the cast is fantastic and each actor/actress is perfectly cast in their respective roles. The bottom line is that Luhrmann’s take on ‘The Great Gatsby’ is a must-see. I’m certain that fans of the book will be pleased with what may be the best Gatsby adaptation to date because it doesn’t disappoint.
Rating: 4.5/5
(Stay tuned... This week, in preparation for 'Star Trek Into Darkness', Rhode Island Movie Corner celebrates 'Star Trek Week', which will include reviews of both of J.J. Abrams' Star Trek films as well as a film series retrospective.)
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