The Great Gatsby

F Scott Fitzgerald's 1925 literary classic finally gets the Hollywood treatment close to 9 decades later...

Although I had not read the book, I still had high hopes for the movie. Many YouTube videos on film have used the classic scene of Leonardo DiCaprio as seen below. Additionally, The Great Gatsby has amassed over 460,000 reviews on IMDb at the time of this post. With a decent rating as well, it was safe to say that I had high hopes for a film commanding such popularity, as well as starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Tobey Maguire.

Gatsby introduces himself to Nick Carraway and the audience

To give the film credit, the set designs and costumes were extravagant and though distracting at times, definitely made me feel like I was in a different era, filled with the filthy rich. Additionally, most of the actors had done a good job in the film. Leo with his typical charisma and Joel Edgerton giving us a polished antagonist.

Beyond that, I feel that the movie was quite terrible. Some if not most, watch movies to escape and get transported to another world. The idea of bringing us back to 1920s America sounds captivating, but the execution falls flat on its face. The use of CGI and green screens was so blatantly obvious that I felt sucked away from the movie experience immediately. Additionally, the use of 2010s music with Jay-Z and other songs incorporating electronic noises and auto-tune just baffles me. No expense was spared for costume and set design to add realism, yet the movie complete undermines its efforts.

"Gatsby believed in the green light, the orgastic future that year by year recedes before us. It eluded us then, but that's no matter - tomorrow we will run faster, stretch out our arms farther... And one fine morning - So we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past." - Nick Carraway

As for the plot, from what I gather online, it stays true to the book which can be seen as unoriginal or respectful for sticking with the material. However, the story never really interested me besides the enigmatic figure of Gatsby. The rest of the movie is just a love triangle that builds and comes to an end with no pay off. The only lesson to be learnt is that one should not hold too dearly to the past and expect things to go back to the way they were. Though a profound message, it does not by any means make the film any better to watch. It's a draggy 2hrs and 23mins I'm never getting back again.

3/10