Thoughts on Baz Luhrmann's Adaptation of The Great Gatsby

I'm not calling this a review, because there's other people, like Ken, who do those better than me, but I just wanted to offer my own however-many cents on Baz Luhrmann's adaptation of F. Scott Fitzgerald's classic novel The Great Gatsby. I loved the book when I had to read it in high school (yeah, I'm a nerd), and I was interested in seeing how Luhrmann would bring it to the big screen. Being familiar with Luhrmann's other work,  I had some idea of what to expect. I've heard him critiqued as being "style over substance," but Luhrmann's style imo works for much of the material he's worked with (simple, classic tales like his 1996 Romeo + Juliet and Moulin Rouge, which I loved).

In the case of The Great Gatsby, however, many of Luhrmann's characteristic stylistic touches- abrupt camera transitions, musical numbers, cultural anachronism - fall flat, distracting the viewer from the storyline rather than pulling him or her into the characters' world. Add filming the subject matter in 3D and it's all becomes a bit of an overload.


Luhrmann actually stays very close to the plot-line of Fitzgerald's novel. For those who are unfamiliar, it centers around the mysterious, newly wealthy Jay Gatsby (Leonardo Di Caprio, Romeo + Juliet), who moves to Long Island to be close to lost love Daisy Buchanan (Carey Mulligan, Pride & Prejudice). Gatsby throws lavish parties hoping to catch Daisy's attention, but it is through his next-door neighbor Nick Carraway (Tobey McGuire, Spiderman) that he manages to re-enter her world. However, he soon earns the suspicions of Daisy's infuriated husband, Tom (Joel Edgerton, King Arthur). Tragedy ultimately ensues, and...well, I won't spoil anything, but the great Jay Gatsby is unable to realize his dreams of either Daisy or the life she represents to him.

I understand taking a highly visual approach to The Great Gatsby, a novel heavy on both symbolism and vivid depiction of an opulent, glitzy lifestyle. And I don't think all of Luhrmann's stylistic choices failed. Some of the shots, from the New York skyline to the green light by which Gatsby would watch Daisy's house across the bay, were absolutely gorgeous, as were the costumes. However, many of the early scenes felt disjointed. I thought the film worked better in the second half, when most of the party scenes were over and it finally began to delve into character and plot development.

All of the actors gave strong performances, but British actress Carey Mulligan especially was able to capture both Daisy's superficial charm and her underlying sadness. Tobey McGuire as narrator Nick Carraway was often reminiscent of Ewan McGregor in Moulin Rouge.

Much has been made of the film's anachronistic soundtrack featuring Jay-Z.  The soundtrack actually shifted between period-appropriate jazz and modern songs from a variety of genres, with hip-hop heavy dance sequences at Gatsby's parties. At one point I caught U2's "Love is Blindness." I love this song, and it actually fit the scene, but that will give you an idea of how all-over-the-place this film's music is.

I actually understand the Jay-Z choice in an odd way. There are a lot of cultural similarities between the Jazz Age and the "bling" and ostentation of modern hip-hop, and Luhrmann is a fan of putting a modern pop-cultural twist on historical tales. However...yeah, the Jay-Z didn't really do it for me.

I did actually enjoy this movie overall. Understandably, though, Baz Luhrmann is not everyone's cup of tea, and Fitzgerald's novel may have been better served with less "style" and more "substance." For those who want a more straightforward film rendition, there's always the 1974 version featuring Robert Redford as Gatsby.

Not rating it 'cause that's not what I do. But there's my take.