Poster of The Great Gatsby

The Great Gatsby

Drama, Romance

Director: Baz Luhrmann

Release Date: May 10, 2013

Where to Watch

I love Baz Luhrmann for his ability to synthesize acting, music and spectacle in an anachronistic way to make an audience see a well-known revered work such as Romeo + Juliet in a new way and make you feel the characters’ emotions. He makes things fresh and squeezes your heart even while your head knows it is melodramatic, but he was hampered by a few things. First mistake: casting Tobey Maguire as Nick. He just doesn’t have the believable range and nuance to play a vet and frankly didn’t have the wit to play off the homoerotic context of Nick’s obsession with Gatsby. (Yes, I may be biased, but I’m tired of either getting wide-eyed innocent baby man or screaming rage-filled addict so if that sort of thing appeals to you, you’ll love it.) Second mistake: casting Carey Mulligan as Daisy. I normally think that Carey Mulligan is amazing, but Baz needed an actress who could play shallow, fragile, cold & less innocent–maybe Elizabeth Banks. Third mistake: too repetitive, particularly with respect to revealing Gatsby’s real past. Baz essentially told it the same way twice. Joel Edgerton was a revelation and made Tom Buchanan equal parts sympathetic and reprehensible. Leo did a great job and really hit the right obsessive, desperate notes as Gatsby. The Great Gatsby is a good movie, but not one of Baz’s best adaptations. Rewatch Moulin Rouge.

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