Movie Review: The Great Gatsby

As a huge fan of F. Scott Fitsgerald's classic novel, The Great Gatsby, I was very excited to hear that it was being adapted once again for the big screen. And while Baz Lurman's name being attached gave me cause for concern, I withheld judgement until I got my butt in the seat and saw it for myself. Well, that time has come. Let the judgement commence.


PLOT

Unless you skipped High School, you most likely know the basic story behind The Great Gatsby. However some people, like my fiance, never had to read the book so maybe a recap is necessary. The plot is set in 1922 and follows  Nick Carraway who finds himself living beside a mysterious millionaire on Long Island. After the millionaire, Jay Gatsby, invites him to one of his large, elaborate parties, Nick soon learns that Gatsby is a long lost lover of his cousin Daisy who lives across the bay...with her husband. The plot of Fitzgerald's novel is perfect, in my opinion, and Director Baz Lurman must agree. The book has been faithfully adapted. In fact, there were some scenes that I felt could have been removed for coherence and for time, but they were left in. Overall, fans of the book will be satisfied to know that the story they love is here in its entirety.

DIALOGUE

As I mentioned the book is all here and that goes for most of its dialogue as well. Of course, some things are paraphrased or condensed, but the points are all there. My only issue with the dialogue is in the narration of Nick Carraway. One of the reasons I love the story of The Great Gatsby so much is the heartbreaking irony and symbolism found throughout. And as we see the events unfold in the film, we hear Nick telling his shrink about what happened. In the process, he calls out every metaphor and symbol so definitively that the audience is left with nothing to ponder. It's spelled out and spoon-fed to them which makes me feel like Baz Lurman didn't trust his audience enough to get these things on their own. Sure, in the book, Carraway calls attention to some of these as well, but this is a movie; a visual medium. In movies, the less you say and the more you SHOW, the better. It left me feeling as if Lurman sees himself as a translator, making the "high concept" issues in the story simpler for a mass audience.

VISUALS

Okay. This is a Baz Lurman film. Therefore, going in, you know right away that it will have its own visual flair and style. In previous films, I felt this detracted from the movie itself and have never really been a fan. With The Great Gatsby, though, his style fit perfectly with the world of 1920's New York and with the character of Gatsby himself. Gatsby is a man who methodically chooses every last detail; making everything bigger and brighter and louder just trying to make the world match with the grandness he envisions in his mind. Sounds like he and Lurman have something in common.

CHARACTERS

With the story pretty much copied and pasted from the book, the movie's character development is almost perfect. At the beginning of the film, Nick states that the events made him disgusted with everyone but Gatsby and immediately goes about bringing us around to his point of view. The main problem most people will have with the characters is the same problem most have with their counterparts in the book: the are all terrible people. But I don't think it's fair to dismiss the story because the characters are not likable  especially when their unlikeability is part of the point.

DRAMA/ROMANCE

IMDB lists the Great Gatsby as Drama and Romance and it proves to be a good entry in those genres. F. Scott Fitsgerald's classic story combined with the immense talent giving life to it prove that these issues of love, fidelity and a society of excess are still relevant to us today.

If you are a fan of the novel or are just interested in seeing a good drama, The Great Gatsby is worth checking out and the director's visual style plays perfect with the source material. It isn't perfect but its a solid film.

DUSTY'S SCORE - 7.5 out of 10