Movie Review: The Great Gatsby

With Luhrmann’s Gatsby, you get what you pay for.... Almost.

Genre: Drama. Rated: M

What’s It All About? F. Scott Fitzgerald’s 1920's New York-set classic novel about the mysterious aristocrat Jay Gatsby and those that come into his orbit gets an epic makeover.

The Verdict: It’s not perfect but it is an impressive, engaging adaptation and less excessive than you might think.

3.5/5.0 from me, David.

Firstly a bit of perspective. Some critics have lashed out at Baz Luhrmann labelling his adaptation of The Great Gatsby overblown. Each to their own but let’s face it, complaining about a Baz Luhrmann film being over the top is akin to objecting to New Orleans during Mardi Gras season. Both are going to be extravagant, gaudy, raucous, big and bombastic. You get what you pay for.



Party like it's 1920-something



And Luhrmann’s Gatsby with thanks in no small part to his partner in life and artistry Catherine Martin is all of those things - to a point, around the mid way point that is. But after most of the frenetic party scenes have passed, the film becomes much more sedate than you’d expect a Luhrmann film to be - a point glossed over by some critics – as the pace slows considerably to concentrate on the drama.

"Complaining about a Baz Luhrmann film being over the top is akin to objecting to New Orleans during Mardi Gras season. Both are going to be extravagant, gaudy, raucous, big and bombastic. You get what you pay for." 

 

Luhrmann could never be characterised as a restrained director but in this case, he has reigned himself in, in part. In fact if you were expecting an entirely in-your-face Luhrmann experience you might ask for half the ticket price back.



All  that glitters....



I confess I’m not exactly a fan of Luhrmann’s films – I found Moulin Rouge and Australia too excessive (I’m the pot calling the kettle black here I know) and the latter laughably cringe-worthy. Conversely, Luhrmann’s hugely creative approach to bring Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet alive for a new generation was I thought, inspired.

And that approach is undoubtedly his aim in this adaptation of the American literary classic - to shake the story up in a big way, backed by a characteristically modern soundtrack. And this Gatsby if nothing else is far more involving that the most recent adaptation of the novel – 1974’s fairly dull sudser starring Robert Redford and Mia Farrow. Luhrmann’s version featuring a charismatic performance from Leonardo DiCaprio as Gatsby, not surprisingly makes its predecessor look positively dead on arrival.



Kiss me you fool



I didn’t have a problem with Luhrmann’s over-the-top approach to Jay Gatsby’s opulence because in this case it’s fitting for the story (after all, isn’t that what opulence is?). The parties, the excess, the hedonism and the larger-than-life depiction of all are a kind of thinly veiled allegory for Jay Gatsby himself. He’s a man who isn’t what he seems, his opulence simply a facade masking grand delusions of a truly happy, contented life.

The theme of longings manufactured, experienced and ultimately dashed is one that runs through the story; our narrator Nick Carraway (Tobey Maguire, Spiderman) gets a taste of high society but he’ll never belong to it. His cousin Daisy (Carey Mulligan, Never Let Me Go) finds that love proves a tragically pragmatic notion and all the money and hopefulness in the world can never buy Gatsby what he so desires, to have Daisy by his side.



King of the world!



Purists of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s novel will no doubt object to Luhrmann’s creative licence – the 3D friendly camera swoops, the Jay Z-centric soundtrack for example – but again, they’re points that seem moot in light of Luhrmann’s track record.

While some of the cast’s performances are laid on with a larger-than-life brush, others are nonetheless impressively nuanced; standouts for me were Mulligan, Joel Edgerton (Zero Dark Thirty) as Daisy’s brutish, womanising husband Tom and Elizabeth Debicki (A Few Best Men) reminiscent of a young Cate Blanchett as their sporting socialite friend Jordan Baker.

Yes, at almost two and a half hours this Gatsby is much too long but an epic running time is also a Luhrmann trait. Like I said, you get what you pay for.