The Great Gatsby – Mini Movie Review

It’s always difficult for any director (or writer or even movie studio) to tackle an adaptation after a popular book, so I can’t even imagine the kind of pressure there must have been on Baz Luhrmann to bring F. Scott Fitzgerald’s “The Great Gatsby” to life on the big screen.

Yet he managed to do justice to the novel, even if certain things got lost in the process. It happens, such transitions from page to the big screen are always difficult.

“The Great Gatsby” is a visually complex and stunning piece, so elaborate that it seems the perfect companion for the novel: a world out of Gatsby’s imagination, real but not entirely so, overwhelming and absurdly extravagant.

Gorgeous costumes and even more impressive set pieces complement each majestic scene in which the viewer is dragged, captured, and then held prisoner. The editing, the cinematography, and the acting are just as flawless.

What I Liked

Watching the film I realized this is exactly how I imagined Gatsby’s world, visually. DiCaprio, Edgerton, Mulligan, and Maguire truly stand out for their nuanced performances, though it’s DiCaprio who steals every scene he’s in, even at those time when he doesn’t utter a single word.

Luhrmann is like a kid getting to play with all the toys in the world with this film, and he doesn’t spare one creative drop to offer us a taste of his vision of the Roaring Twenties.

What I Didn’t Like

“The Great Gatsby” works its way towards romanticizing the very things that the novel de-romanticized, but I imagine that’s a compromise made for modern audiences, albeit an unnecessary one. It doesn’t grate though.

Conclusion