Review - The Great Gatsby (2013)

         Hey guys, Chuck here. And I have to admit this: I'm not a fan of the films of Baz Luhrmann. I mean, I saw his take on Romeo + Juliet in high school and thought it was okay, but I also thought Moulin Rouge was just plain bad. However, there is one of his films that I thoroughly enjoy, and it's probably the only one I saw in a theater. And that's his 2013 adaptation of F. Scott Fitzgerald's classic novel The Great Gatsby starring Leonardo DiCaprio, Tobey Maguire, Carey Mulligan, Joel Edgerton, Isla Fisher, Jason Clarke, and Elizabeth Debicki. 

        Now, the movie presents a framing device in which Nick Carraway, a former bond salesman and World War I veteran, is currently in a sanatorium, where he speaks with a therapist regarding his lavish neighbor Jay Gatsby. Nick's therapist, who is aware that Nick once had aspirations of being a writer, suggests that Nick write his account of the time he knew Gatsby, and Nick sits down at the typewriter the therapist provides and begins to type out the story of his adventures with Gatsby. 

        The majority of the film is set in the year 1922, where Nick moves into a small cottage in the West Egg village on Long Island in New York. The cottage is located nextdoor to Gatsby's mansion, where Gatsby holds lavish parties on a nightly basis. Across the bay in East Egg is Nick's cousin Daisy Buchanan, along with her husband Tom Buchanan. One evening, Nick goes to have dinner with Tom and Daisy, and it's here where he meets professional golfer Jordan Baker, and Tom and Daisy try to get Nick and Jordan together. In fact, at one point, the two do attend one of Gatsby's parties, as Gatsby invited Nick to a party, and Jordan joins him. 

       Over the course of the movie, we learn many things about Gatsby, including his business connections with a man named Meyer Wolfsheim. Also, we learn that years before, Gatsby and Daisy were in a relationship and very much in love. However, Gatsby was deployed overseas when the United States joined World War I, and she moved on and married Tom instead. Also, Tom has been cheating on Daisy with a woman named Myrtle, a social climber who is married to a gas station owner named George Wilson. Also, Jordan tells Nick of how Gatsby throws his lavish parties in the hopes that Daisy will look across the bay, see the lights, and come to him. 

        Gatsby asks Nick to help him try to get Daisy back, and he is able to get the two together one afternoon. Further moments see Gatsby and Daisy rekindling their former romance, and Gatsby wants her to leave Tom so she can be with Gatsby again. It almost works, as on a very hot day, Gatsby, Tom, Daisy, Nick, and Jordan all head to the Plaza in Manhattan, where Gatsby attempts to convince Tom that Daisy loves Gatsby and not Tom. Tensions rise, and Gatsby agrees to take Daisy back home. On the way, and after the two argue, Myrtle runs out towards Gatsby's car and gets mowed down. Why did she run towards the car? Because she thought Tom was driving it. But, it turns out that Daisy was driving. Oops. 

        Anyway, Tom is upset, and George is overcome with grief. Tom and Daisy end up moving away, and in his grief, George kills Gatsby, and then himself. Nick, being literally the only one left to mourn Gatsby, winds up going a bit nuts, thus why he's in the sanatorium. The movie ends with Nick completing his memoir, and giving it the title of "The Great Gatsby." 

        So, while certainly more tame by comparison to one of his other films like Moulin Rouge, this take on The Great Gatsby is, very much, a Baz Luhrmann film. In other words, it's dripping with excess extravagance and and edited with a number of quick cuts. Like I said, not nearly as bad as Moulin Rouge in terms of the editing, but still very much edited like a typical Baz Luhrmann film. But, I will say that it very much captured the overall look and feel of the Roaring Twenties quite nicely. The music, which (with the exception of Gershwin's "Rhapsody in Blue") is a jazz/hip-hop fusion, the fashion, the cars, and the architecture is all very much like something out of the Twenties, which is great. 

        That's not to take away from the acting in the movie. Leonardo DiCaprio as Jay Gatsby was absolutely fantastic, playing a mix of slick, mysterious, and quick to anger to absolute perfection. Tobey Maguire, while not nearly as good as DiCaprio's Gatsby, was also a great leading man as Nick Carraway, truly evolving as he spends more time in Gatsby's lavish world. Both Joel Edgerton as Tom and Jason Clarke as George were really good as the two more antagonistic characters of the movie. And both Carey Mulligan and Elizabeth Debicki were very lovely as Daisy and Jordan, respectively. Isla Fisher as Myrtle was decent enough, but she didn't get a ton of time on screen. 

        Overall, while not a definitive adaptation of F. Scott Fitzgerald's original novel, the 2013 adaptation of The Great Gatsby is very faithful to its source material, and is definitely one worth watching. It's probably one of the few films by Baz Luhrmann that I genuinely enjoy and would be willing to recommend. I'm giving The Great Gatsby a rating of 4.85/5. Check it out for yourself and enjoy. 

        Alright guys, this is Chuck signing off, and I'll see you guys later.