The Great Gatsby (2013) Directed by Baz Luhrmann. Starring: Leonardo DiCaprio, Tobey Maguire, & Carey Mulligan. IMDB says: “A Midwestern war veteran finds himself drawn to the past and lifestyle of his millionaire neighbor. ”
The Great Gatsby is Baz Luhrmann at his Baz Luhrmann-iest, but it’s not enough for this overly ambitious film to hit home. The Great Gatsby, based on the novel written by F. Scott Fitzgerald, is the story of Nick Carraway (Tobey Maguire), who has moved to Long Island and discovers that he lives next to the reclusive and wealthy Jay Gatsby (A debonair Leonardo DiCaprio). After a few meetings with Gatsby, Nick is asked to invite his cousin Daisy Buchanan (the lovely Carey Mulligan) to tea and soon discovers there’s more to Gatsby, and his relationship with Daisy, than what we think. If you’ve already seen the 1974 version with Robert Redford (Gatsby), Mia Farrow (Daisy), and Sam Waterston (Carraway), then you know what happens. It’s the same story, but it’s told through the visually stunning eye of Baz Luhrmann; which is good and bad.
It’s good because it takes the tale of Gatsby and places it in an almost fantasy land of lights, color, and glamour. The 3D, which doesn’t help nor hurt the film, often makes the film feel like an encyclopedic look at the 1920s by way of a child’s pop-up book; it’s enthralling, intriguing, and it draws you in. It almost makes the performances from the entire cast look larger than life. (That goes double for when Nick meets Gatsby in person for the first time!) All the actors are solid in the film. The supporting roles from Isla Fisher, Joel Edgerton, and Jason Clarke are great and at times they steal the screen. When someone isn’t stealing the scene, the visuals are at the forefront. I can’t find enough words, or make up enough words, to describe how fantastic they are as we fly from mansions to the busy city streets of New York City to slow motion scenes partying in cars on bridges, and everywhere in between.
Now if they would have paid that much attention to the music of the film, we’d have more than just a big budget summer film, we might just have a serious Oscar contender. But the music changes and shifts too much, changing tone and pace of the film for the worse. When I heard Jay-Z would be contributing music to the film, I was excited, but apprehensive. So when I first started seeing people dancing to the music of Jay-Z, Kanye West, and even some dub step based tracks, I was surprised, and okay with it. It was working for the context of scene, without seeming off-putting or hokey. But here’s what really surprised me: it only lasted for maybe the first third of the film. After that it was a mix of orchestral pieces and some 1920s style covers of current pop songs. That contrast in music really changed the feel and tone of the film from unique and modern to almost paying homage to classic filmmaking. It was as if the film ended, started over, and was presenting a part two. Combine that with scenes that felt out of place or completely unnecessary at all, and you get a film that started with the strongest of intentions, but fell under the weight of it’s own ambitions; much like Jay Gatsby himself.
The film could have been cut down to two hours, rather than two and a half, old sport, but that’s not going to stop me from recommending it to those who enjoy the novel or Baz Luhrmann films. Check it out in theatres if you fall in line with either of those characteristics, but for everyone else, you won’t be missing much if you wait for Netflix or VOD.
I have to say that Nick’s comparison of this movie’s ambitions to Jay Gatsby’s is so on point I wish I had said it first. Unfortunately, I didn’t seem to like this movie quite as much as Nick did (and he didn’t even like it that much). With The Great Gatsby you get a pretty interesting movie, but it’s layered under so much gaudy weight that it’s a little hard to enjoy. Baz has done much better. I personally love Romeo + Juliet and rewatched it a few days before seeing the director’s newest film, and if anything it really hurt my impression of Gatsby. While I get why Romeo + Juliet is divisive amongst watchers the case can at least be made that every flourish, anachronism, and glaring visual choice had a purpose. The Great Gatsby not only features all of these same staples of Luhrmann without the same sense of purpose, they outright debilitate the movie to an almost nonredeemable point. Jay-Z songs are misused in scenes where they seem added for the heck of it and text floats on screen as Nick Carraway narrates through his writing (Tobey Maguire)–just to name a couple weird choices. Some on their own, used effectively, could have been nice, but so many used inexplicably just create something quite messy.
Underneath all the negative things you can say about the movie there’s definitely a few things I appreciated. The decadence of Luhrmann’s style fits well with the roaring 20’s depicted in the novel. Nowhere better than at Jay Gatsby’s lavish parties does this pay off more. They’re exciting and playful with a visual splendor that makes these scenes some of the most enjoyable. The story is really great, plotwise and thematically but that’s all owed to Fitzgerald.
The real aspect you can assess here is how the actors bring the story to life. Maguire is more than serviceable at what is essentially a stand in character for the audience. Carey Mulligan captures Daisy Buchanan’s glowing appeal but conflicting ideals, all while looking beautiful and perfect for that time period. The huge selling point of the movie is really seeing Leonardo DiCaprio completely own the role of Jay Gatsby as he does in every single part he takes on. Gatsby is this larger than life person who has so many layers and no one seems more perfect than Leo for the job. You really feel every scene he’s in and it’s nearly enough to save the movie. However, another place the film lost me is the connection between Mulligan and DiCaprio. They both were so fantastic in their individual roles, but I didn’t feel the chemistry and die hard romance between the two. It’s not a great sign when I was a little more interested in the barely developed romance between Nick Carraway and Daisy’s friend Jordan Baker (Elizabeth Debicki) than the couple the whole story is based on. It’s not completely bunk, but I ended up wishing Daisy had been played by someone else to hopefully improve the film. I also have to mention that Joel Edgerton is pretty great as Tom Buchanan, Daisy’s cheating yet jealous husband.
It’s difficult to hate a movie when it’s trying hard to be so fun and over the top. It did hit those notes at times, and when it happened I really wanted to like The Great Gatsby for the film it was aiming to be. By the end though I really couldn’t ignore all the overstuffed styling. Luhrmann seemed to have refused to reign in and go back to his earlier works where he employed his unique direction with purpose, rather than bloating a movie that could have been much better.
