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the-movie-watcher: Just Watched: The Great Gatsby Shame, this should have and could have been great. Clearly written for people who have not read the book nor have the intelligence to decipher any form of subtlety, this fifth attempt at a Gatsby film falls flat substantially more frequently than it succeeds at anything. The entire first half had me groaning with disgust or confusion at the often tasteless and unintelligent portrayals of characters, scenes, settings and conflicts by director Baz Luhrmann. Insufferably quick cuts and poor editing combined with some animations and visual effects that look like they came from a middle schooler messing around with Photoshop make for a laughable aesthetic to plenty of the visuals. Though Luhrmann did a poor directing job, and an even poorer screenwriting job, the real loser of the hour is unfortunately Jay Z. His treatment of the soundtrack for this film has caused me to lose much respect for this man. Some songs clearly make an attempt at emulating the style and sensibilities of 1920s music, and those that do are commendable. But so many of the songs that actually appear in the film are ridiculously out of place. When tracks ripped directly from Watch The Throne come on, and H to the Izzo blares from a radio, then it is undeniable that the setting of the film is not being taken seriously in the slightest, and that absolutely sickened me. Worsening the film further were the significant changes to actual story lines and portrayals of characters, most notably Nick Carraway, who comes across as more of a wide eyed fool than an intelligent and thoughtful man. All this said, however, there was an approximately 45-minute stretch of the film almost reaching the end that absolutely captivated me and about which I have almost nothing to complain about. In terms of performances, Leonardo DiCaprio and Joel Edgerton give some excellent depth and feeling to their characters, and Carey Mulligan does an adequate job, and a fairly mediocre Tobey Maguire struggles to keep up. Unfortunately even the greatest moments do not quite make up for the simple silliness and disrespect for the intelligence of the source material that this film could not stop regurgitating. Mr. Luhrmann, stick to Shakespeare. Fitzgerald is better off without you anywhere near him. My Rating: 6.3/10
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the-movie-watcher:

Just Watched: The Great Gatsby

Shame, this should have and could have been great. Clearly written for people who have not read the book nor have the intelligence to decipher any form of subtlety, this fifth attempt at a Gatsby film falls flat substantially more frequently than it succeeds at anything. The entire first half had me groaning with disgust or confusion at the often tasteless and unintelligent portrayals of characters, scenes, settings and conflicts by director Baz Luhrmann. Insufferably quick cuts and poor editing combined with some animations and visual effects that look like they came from a middle schooler messing around with Photoshop make for a laughable aesthetic to plenty of the visuals. Though Luhrmann did a poor directing job, and an even poorer screenwriting job, the real loser of the hour is unfortunately Jay Z. His treatment of the soundtrack for this film has caused me to lose much respect for this man. Some songs clearly make an attempt at emulating the style and sensibilities of 1920s music, and those that do are commendable. But so many of the songs that actually appear in the film are ridiculously out of place. When tracks ripped directly from Watch The Throne come on, and H to the Izzo blares from a radio, then it is undeniable that the setting of the film is not being taken seriously in the slightest, and that absolutely sickened me. Worsening the film further were the significant changes to actual story lines and portrayals of characters, most notably Nick Carraway, who comes across as more of a wide eyed fool than an intelligent and thoughtful man. All this said, however, there was an approximately 45-minute stretch of the film almost reaching the end that absolutely captivated me and about which I have almost nothing to complain about. In terms of performances, Leonardo DiCaprio and Joel Edgerton give some excellent depth and feeling to their characters, and Carey Mulligan does an adequate job, and a fairly mediocre Tobey Maguire struggles to keep up. Unfortunately even the greatest moments do not quite make up for the simple silliness and disrespect for the intelligence of the source material that this film could not stop regurgitating. Mr. Luhrmann, stick to Shakespeare. Fitzgerald is better off without you anywhere near him.

My Rating: 6.3/10

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