The Movie: The Great Gatsby (2013)
Studio: Warner Bros.
Director: Baz Luhrmann
Starring: Leonardo DiCaprio as Jay Gatsby, Tobey Maguire as Nick Carraway, Carey Mulligan as Daisy Buchanan, Joel Edgerton as Tom Buchanan, Elizabeth Debicki as Jordan Baker, Isla Fisher as Myrtle Wilson and Jason Clarke as George Wilson
Screenwriters: Baz Luhrmann and Craig Pearce, based on the novel by F. Scott Fitzgerald
RottenTomatoes: 48% MetaCritic: 55/100
Snippet from My Review: (read my full review here)
The Great Gatsby is, without a doubt, too long and yet it isn’t a disaster. Neither is it a great film or even really a good one for that matter. I did, however, love DiCaprio and Debicki as well as the themes that shine through even though Luhrmann felt compelled to overplay them. I do believe Luhrmann is the right director to give this story a life unlike what is found in the pages of Fitzgerald’s book and had he given his characters a little more attention and played with the narrative just a little more he may have had a hit.
Starter Questions
Here are a few questions/thoughts to help get the conversation started.
1.) Have you read the book? If so, did you find it to be a good companion piece? Adaptation? Reinvention? Other?
2.) One of the problems I had was the empty and soulless nature of all of the supporting characters. I felt zero investment in them or their lives and they seemed to serve the purpose of little more than window dressing. Agree? Disagree?
3.) I also felt the decision to use Nick Carraway’s voice over narration was just another example of a lazy adaptation where the filmmakers didn’t take the time to come up with ways to use the visual aspect of filmmaking and took the easy way out and decided to tell us how the characters were feeling rather than show us. No wonder they all seemed so empty… Thoughts?
Now share your thoughts on the film in the comments below and feel free to include spoilers.
