The Great Gatsby: Movie Review

Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars

Cliff-Notes for the big screen!

When I think of Great-Gatsby the first thing that comes to mind is AP Literature.  It sits right there with The Scarlet Letter, The Crucible, and Hamlet.   The book, written by Scott Fitzgerald,  is pretty much a High School Standard, but that must be a modern add-on because neither my Mom or Grandmother has read it.  That aside, pretty much the only thing I remember from reading the book was the lavish, over the top parties and a blinking green light.

The green light . . . it means go . . . taunting and all that jazz.

There are many things this latest incarnation of the Great Gatsby gets right.  The costumes are stunning.  The lavish parties that the great Gatsby hosts?  Exactly what I imagined.  Using Tobey Maguire's character, who plays Nick Carraway, as a narrator, reading the words of Fitzgerald, was very effective.  And I did like Leonardo DiCaprio's Jay Gatsby, though I originally had my doubts.  The music choices did work well in making the roaring 20's feel current, which is a Baz Luhrmann staple.

On the downside the whole piece did feel a bit over-the-top.  I would love to know what it was like to live back then.  According to my Grandpa R., my Great-Grandmother lived in Boston and was a flapper/dancer, hanging out and performing in basement clubs.  Apparently she was a little wild.  I couldn't help but think of her as the film progressed.  Still, everything in the movie felt like a caricature.  Stretched and exemplified.

There is a scene where Nick gets drunk (which brings me to another thought.  How can anyone actually like getting drunk?  It looks miserable!) He takes a brake and goes outside; the still from the storm.  Nick becomes our voice of reason.  Observant as he overlooks the city.  Effective, but the scene was obviously tailored for 3D, which is not how I watched it.  There were moments like that where I wished the director kept a 2D frame of mind.

The Great Gatsby was dazzling . . . which means Jay Gatsby, the Great Gatsby, was simply being himself.        

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MPAA: Rated PG-13 for some violent images, sexual content, smoking, partying and brief language.