The Great Gatsby

The Great Gatsby, the latest film by critically acclaimed director Baz Luhrmann is a visual feast, actually spectacle would be the more appropriate word for it. Every frame of this movie is filled to the hilt with something, either it's flowers or faces or computer generated visions of New York City and Long Island back in the 1920's. Spectacles usually cost a lot of money and this movie is no exception but a spectacle is all it is, once you get past the visual feast the movie is hollow and that's why it only gets two buckets of Killer Korn.






Funny story, when I told my mother I had just seen The Great Gatsby she smiled and asked me what I thought of it. I said it didn't live up to expectations. Mom smiled on and said, "I could have told you not to waste your time and money. I never did like the book and if the book is bad, how can there be a good movie?" She also said that maybe I should consult with her from now on regarding my movie choices which is never going to happen, but I digress. I will tell you the truth old sport, I have never read The Great Gatsby. It wasn't required reading in school and I never felt the pull to crack it open on my own accord. However, I knew a little about it, small details gleamed throughout the years and all those pieces came to life on the screen. Jay Gatsby, played by Leonardo DiCaprio is a tale about a young millionaire living in Long Island NY. Jay is in love with a young girl he met five years earlier named Daisy, played by Carey Mulligan. Daisy comes from a wealthy family and Jay is a poor as dirt soldier from the Midwest and he feels the only way to be worthy of Daisy is to become wealthy. The one little hitch in Jay's plan is Daisy is already betrothed to someone else, a man named Tom Buchanan, played brilliantly by Joel Edgerton.

The story is told from the point of view from Nick Carraway, played by Tobey Maguire who is in an asylum after all the partying, drinking, carousing, and death NYC brought his way all in one summer. Nick aka Nicky to Daisy is her cousin who just so happens to move into a little shack right next door to Gatsby's monstrous mansion. When Jay finds out that Nick is Daisy's cousin, Jay does all he can to ingratiate himself onto Nick. Now since I never read this novel by F. Scott Fitzgerald I did not know how this story would end but I could say this, I really could care less about ANY of these characters. The main question I have about this story is what makes Daisy such a catch? While I don't know what she's like in the book, her character in the movie appears to be nothing more than a fragile piece of glass. She spends most of her time swooning and crying and for the life of me I don't know why Gatsby is so obsessed with such a weak woman or why anyone is for that part. The one character that's not obsessed with her is her husband Tom. He's busy carrying on an affair with the gas attendants wife Myrtle, played wonderfully by Isla Fisher.

Like I said, this movie is a spectacle, but sadly that's all there is. There is nothing to this movie, it's all façade and no depth. The characters are vapid, insecure, and fragile, there are no redeeming qualities in any of them and if this movie is anything like the book then I wonder what all the fascination is about. The movie was "written" by Baz and Craig Pearce and their interpretation of Fitzgerald's work might have those who have read it scratching their heads after seeing the movie. I am of the opinion that there are some books that should never be made into a film and apparently Gatsby falls squarely into that category. Director Jack Clayton's Gatsby starring Robert Redford showed that and yet Baz apparently felt he could tackle this book and do a better job. In my opinion he clearly missed the mark. This film has no heart and the soul, all of the emotional content is wrapped up in Tobey's character Nick, whom you could take or leave. When there's no character to care for, the film becomes a rudderless ship.

This movie was delayed from hitting theaters TWICE due to production difficulties and Baz running out of money. It was originally slated to be released last fall and then it was pushed to last winter for a Christmas release. That didn't happen and when things like that happen it usually means trouble for a film. It usually means rewrites and re-shoots and that usually means a shitload of more money added to the already bloated budget. I can only think of one movie where production strife didn't hurt it and that was James Cameron's Titanic. The soundtrack is surprisingly dominated by Jay-Z, that is until you find out he's one of the executive producers of the film. Then it all makes sense but his music is definitely out of place. The movie is beautifully shot by cinematographer Simon Duggan and it's very pretty to look at and I'm sure in 3D it's amazing, but if that's all there is to a film (and that's all there is to this film) don't waste your money. Skip Gatsby, see something else and I'll see you at the theater.