Rating of
3.5/4
Gatsby? What Gatsby?
Jacob Zembower - wrote on 05/12/13
Upon second viewing of The Great Gatsby, my appreciation and enjoyment of it has increased ten-fold. I've never been a fan of the classic novel, as I found the messages it told to be obvious, and I never found myself emotionally involved in the proceedings or the characters' plights. With that said, Baz Lhurman has taken a rather dry story and through his lavish visuals, ingenious musical choices, and great performances from the entire cast, has breathed a new life and energy into the tragic and materialistic tale. He also was able to finally elicit an emotional response, Dicaprio and Mulligan really knock the roles out of the park. Both giving heartbreaking and honest performances. Toby McGuire, an actor of which I'm not a fan of, is also quite wonderful here as well. His character is no longer a cypher for the goings on around him thanks to his spot on performance as Nick. This is by far the best adaptation of the novel to date, and one of the very best adaptations of any novel in the ranks of film making. Every shot, every moment, every beat is a feast for the eyes, and this is certainly Lhurman's best film since Moulin Rouge. It may still be flawed, but that's mostly due to the source material, but this Great Gatsby is great indeed, in every sense of the word.
