The Great Gatsby film review

The Great Gatsby is a giddy ride into a fantastic re-imagining of the past.  It's just the most stylish thing ever - but the story lacks heart.

Fans of Baz Luhrman will love the frenzied, colourful and oh-so-slick approach to illustrating the story.  Certainly, he stays true to the style that has brought him such acclaim.  He fills each frame to saturation point, that within the first half hour I felt the film had already achieved more than many films do over their full length.  I saw the film in 3D, and for the first time felt that the effect was used to accomplish something worthwhile.  Certainly, the 3D effects are not important - but they are fun and rather impressive.

So it all starts with a rush and a roar and provides quite the adrenaline rush, then it comes time to progress the story and the pace slows considerably.  It is an unusual story, with an unusual shape and Luhrman is very faithful to the source material.  For this reason, I wondered whether the film's problems were unavoidable.  He fails, though, to make the most of the weightier moments.  One of the greatest strengths of the story is that it is filled with fascinating, endearing characters whose paths cross in unexpected ways.  The film does well at painting these characters.  In particular, I enjoyed the female characters immensely.  Sadly, though, the audience is kept at too far a distance.  Despite many extreme close ups, the viewer is forever watching the action from across the bay.  I was not even sure whose side I should have been on.  This, then, means that the double tragedy the film builds to, means very little.  The character who I felt closest to was our narrator Nick Carraway, played by the evergreen Tobey Maguire.  Unfortunately, Carraway has no character arc.  He doesn't have a story or an ending.  He is no more than a plot device.  This is very true to the book.  Nevertheless, I felt Luhrman has done us a disservice by being so faithful to the book.  

Another strength of the book is the beautiful poetic nature of the writing.  Luhrman is conscious of bringing this to life, and his efforts to do so work well when done visually - the passage of the seasons alone is breathtaking. It is less effective when the poetry is thrust at us with flying words.  It is a literal approach - and literal poetry must be an oxymoron.

Ultimately, The Great Gatsby is beautiful, and it tells the story clearly.  It lacks intimacy to the story.  The friendship between Gatsby and Carraway should break hearts as the story concludes...and it just doesn't.

A special mention must be made of the music.  The majority of the music is fairly recent pop music.  I loved the new recordings of each song, and marveled at how well it all fit together.  

See the beginning of this film if you love colour and dramatic music.  See the rest of this film if you like a cool, detached story.  I enjoyed both parts of the film, but found the transition a little clunky.  Perhaps the transmission needs to be looked at...I know a good mechanic...