Director:
Baz Luhrmann
Cast: Leonardo Dicaprio, Tobey Maguire, Carey Mulligan, Joel Edgerton, Adelaide Clemens, Jason Clarke
Rating: Rated PG13 for some violent images, sexual content, smoking, partying and brief language
A Midwestern war veteran finds himself drawn to the past and lifestyle of his millionaire neighbor.
Pre- Show Thoughts
Luckily I was one of the few high school students who were never forced to read "The Great Gatsby" during my time in English class. All I ever remember about this novel was how other people I knew complained about having to read it and how boring they found it. I never gave the book a second thought until I heard about the Baz Lurhman adaption that was coming to theaters as a Summer movie. I was curious of how he was going to take a dry novel and create this epic like he did with "Romeo+Juliet", but the trailer had me actually excited for this movie. For the most part it had seemed that Baz Lurhman had found a way to make this novel entertaining with flashy colors and a somewhat unfitting score full of rap and pop music that made this film look very good. After I took some time to think about it I began to worry that while the film looked visually good they didn't focus a lot on the story in the trailer and that could be a side effect of a style over substance movie. I chose to see the movie while it might not be the best film ever and probably not even the best route to adapt this novel in, the trailers did a good job of getting me entranced and wanting to see what this film is.
Luckily I was one of the few high school students who were never forced to read "The Great Gatsby" during my time in English class. All I ever remember about this novel was how other people I knew complained about having to read it and how boring they found it. I never gave the book a second thought until I heard about the Baz Lurhman adaption that was coming to theaters as a Summer movie. I was curious of how he was going to take a dry novel and create this epic like he did with "Romeo+Juliet", but the trailer had me actually excited for this movie. For the most part it had seemed that Baz Lurhman had found a way to make this novel entertaining with flashy colors and a somewhat unfitting score full of rap and pop music that made this film look very good. After I took some time to think about it I began to worry that while the film looked visually good they didn't focus a lot on the story in the trailer and that could be a side effect of a style over substance movie. I chose to see the movie while it might not be the best film ever and probably not even the best route to adapt this novel in, the trailers did a good job of getting me entranced and wanting to see what this film is.
Initial Reaction:
This is gonna be a hard one to explain. My overall feelings for the film was that it wasn't a bad film it just wasn't what I was expecting. The plot felt a little straigihtforward and generic and while their were certain parts of the story I liked especially in the third act it just didn't really go anywhere for me. The directing and the acting of the film were the best part as they helped the film become more watchable in the slow parts this film had throughout.
This is gonna be a hard one to explain. My overall feelings for the film was that it wasn't a bad film it just wasn't what I was expecting. The plot felt a little straigihtforward and generic and while their were certain parts of the story I liked especially in the third act it just didn't really go anywhere for me. The directing and the acting of the film were the best part as they helped the film become more watchable in the slow parts this film had throughout.
Story: (2.5/5)
Not having read the book and basing all my knowledge of this movie off the trailer I was let down that this was nothing more than a love story between two rich people. The story would have worked better for me as if they'd have marketed it as a love story instead of something more fantastical as it had appeared. The story being told from Nick Hardaway's perspective was split for me one he was a good person to get the story from since he was on the outside of the story but Nick wasn't portrayed as an interesting enough character that you cared how he was affected by the story. As straightforward as the story appeared it was really Leonardo Dicaprio as Gatsby and his flawless portrayal that made even the dullest parts of the story enthralling. With all my disappointment in the story as I became more involved in the story the third act of the story is really where the story picks up. You start to care more about how the story plays out .As stated earlier I had no idea how the story ended and I was truly surprised which is never a bad thing.
Not having read the book and basing all my knowledge of this movie off the trailer I was let down that this was nothing more than a love story between two rich people. The story would have worked better for me as if they'd have marketed it as a love story instead of something more fantastical as it had appeared. The story being told from Nick Hardaway's perspective was split for me one he was a good person to get the story from since he was on the outside of the story but Nick wasn't portrayed as an interesting enough character that you cared how he was affected by the story. As straightforward as the story appeared it was really Leonardo Dicaprio as Gatsby and his flawless portrayal that made even the dullest parts of the story enthralling. With all my disappointment in the story as I became more involved in the story the third act of the story is really where the story picks up. You start to care more about how the story plays out .As stated earlier I had no idea how the story ended and I was truly surprised which is never a bad thing.
Directing: (4/5)
Director Baz Lurhmman is quiet renoun for his moden day adaption of "Romeo+Juliet" that was split across the fanbase. What Baz Lurhman did for "Romeo+Juliet" by modernizing an old tale, he did the same for "The Great Gatsby" but was able to keep it in its same time period while making it feel modern. The music is the biggest thing that was changed to fit a more modern audience with songs from people such as Florence Welch and Jay-Z gracing the soundtrack. The soundtrack was one of those things I thought I would be put off by because it felt like they were changing the music just to appeal to a wider audience and had no real meaning behind it but it didn't put me off at all and I found myself enjoying the music. The film is also visually very vibrant, as even the most standard scenes popped out and helped keep the audience involved with the long dialouge scenes. The only complaint really comes from the 3-D which was probably one of the most weirdest conversions I had ever seen. Baz Lurhman used it in a way I had never seen a director use it as he faded the background and put more emphasis on the actors making them feel more important but it made certain scenes look really fake and as ambitious as it was it would have probably been better if he didn't do it.
Director Baz Lurhmman is quiet renoun for his moden day adaption of "Romeo+Juliet" that was split across the fanbase. What Baz Lurhman did for "Romeo+Juliet" by modernizing an old tale, he did the same for "The Great Gatsby" but was able to keep it in its same time period while making it feel modern. The music is the biggest thing that was changed to fit a more modern audience with songs from people such as Florence Welch and Jay-Z gracing the soundtrack. The soundtrack was one of those things I thought I would be put off by because it felt like they were changing the music just to appeal to a wider audience and had no real meaning behind it but it didn't put me off at all and I found myself enjoying the music. The film is also visually very vibrant, as even the most standard scenes popped out and helped keep the audience involved with the long dialouge scenes. The only complaint really comes from the 3-D which was probably one of the most weirdest conversions I had ever seen. Baz Lurhman used it in a way I had never seen a director use it as he faded the background and put more emphasis on the actors making them feel more important but it made certain scenes look really fake and as ambitious as it was it would have probably been better if he didn't do it.
Acting: (3.5/5)
Being pretty oblivious to what "The Great Gatsby" is I don't know how well Leonardo Dicaprio portrayed him but I thought he did a great job. Dicaprio made who could have been a pretty unlikable character really good and worth rooting for once the film asked for it. Dicaprio made it fun watching this character unravel and added a lot of depth to him. Tobey Maguire, Spider-Man himself, came off as a mixed bag. Overall I thought Tobey Maguire did a good job but I found his character rather strange and not really a good character to get the main perspective from. He should have been a better eye witness to hear this from but the writing is what heard Tobey Maguire's character the most and has nothing to do with him personally as an actor. Carey Mulligan and Joel Edgerton as Daisy and Tom were both also really good. Carey Mulligan was quiet incredible and within one scene with her you were quickly able to see why every guy found her enchanting. On the complete other side of the spectrum Joel Edgerton was really the films only antagonist and he was just as good, he was easily hatable which is always good out of a character portraying a villain. The rest of the cast was pretty one-dimensional, outside of the characters named know one had a lot to do especially Isla Fisher and Jason Clarke who I expected would of had a bigger role but were pretty limited in scree time.
Replayability: (2.5/5)
If you are a fan of "The Great Gatsby" you are going to love this movie. Baz Lurhman made a really good adaption that brought this novel to light for a new generation of audience members. After seeing the film I found out they did leave out some stuff from the book that looking back on might have helped the film out a little but didn't hinder it any way. For a general audience member I don't see a lot of replayability or any reason to recommend this to another person as the film felt like a pretty generic romance film that didn't really serve a true meaning in the end. Leonardo Dicaprio and the supporting cast give really good performances where I could see maybe a rental would be the best option for this film.
Being pretty oblivious to what "The Great Gatsby" is I don't know how well Leonardo Dicaprio portrayed him but I thought he did a great job. Dicaprio made who could have been a pretty unlikable character really good and worth rooting for once the film asked for it. Dicaprio made it fun watching this character unravel and added a lot of depth to him. Tobey Maguire, Spider-Man himself, came off as a mixed bag. Overall I thought Tobey Maguire did a good job but I found his character rather strange and not really a good character to get the main perspective from. He should have been a better eye witness to hear this from but the writing is what heard Tobey Maguire's character the most and has nothing to do with him personally as an actor. Carey Mulligan and Joel Edgerton as Daisy and Tom were both also really good. Carey Mulligan was quiet incredible and within one scene with her you were quickly able to see why every guy found her enchanting. On the complete other side of the spectrum Joel Edgerton was really the films only antagonist and he was just as good, he was easily hatable which is always good out of a character portraying a villain. The rest of the cast was pretty one-dimensional, outside of the characters named know one had a lot to do especially Isla Fisher and Jason Clarke who I expected would of had a bigger role but were pretty limited in scree time.
Replayability: (2.5/5)
If you are a fan of "The Great Gatsby" you are going to love this movie. Baz Lurhman made a really good adaption that brought this novel to light for a new generation of audience members. After seeing the film I found out they did leave out some stuff from the book that looking back on might have helped the film out a little but didn't hinder it any way. For a general audience member I don't see a lot of replayability or any reason to recommend this to another person as the film felt like a pretty generic romance film that didn't really serve a true meaning in the end. Leonardo Dicaprio and the supporting cast give really good performances where I could see maybe a rental would be the best option for this film.
Final Grade: 3.1 (B-)
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