REVIEW: The Great Gatsby

Courtesy of Warner Bros.

Baz Luhrmann boasts a successful career in the film industry, but his cinematic output makes it clear that he’s not interested in subtlety. While visually dazzling, his movies often feature thinly developed characters wandering through the story, generally wearing opulent costumes and standing on astounding sets, while anachronistic music blares on the soundtrack.

The filmmaker’s distinctive style is adored by his fans, but it has its share of detractors too. That’s why my curiosity was piqued when I heard he was tackling F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby, considered by many scholars and critics to be the greatest novel of the 20th century. Not only that, he had cast Leonardo DiCaprio as the mysterious titular character and planned to shoot in 3D.

On paper, those are solid ideas. DiCaprio seems perfect as a young, aloof millionaire with a hidden past and a tragic future. And what better way to comment on the notorious excess of the 1920s than by having the over-the-top Luhrmann chronicle it in 3D, which is also an excess in itself? Throw in a promising supporting cast, including Tobey Maguire, Carey Mulligan, Joel Edgerton, Isla Fisher and Jason Clarke, and it seemed like we might finally get a decent movie version of Fitzgerald’s story.

However, the finished product doesn’t live up to its promise. Luhrmann once again focuses on style over substance, sledgehammering Fitzgerald’s thematic points into viewers’ brains rather than letting them reach their own conclusions from the characters’ choices and interactions. The film is also hobbled by some unfortunate miscasting in both large roles and small.

For those who managed to make it through high school or college without reading The Great Gatsby, the plot is fairly simple. Viewers get to experience New York City during the Roaring Twenties through the eyes of Nick Carraway (Maguire), an aspiring writer who moves to the big city when the stock market is soaring, morals are loosening, jazz is blaring and bootleggers are cleaning up.

Like everyone else, Nick is chasing the American dream. His pursuit leads him to rent a rundown cottage across the bay from his cousin Daisy (Mulligan) and her old-moneyed, adulterous husband Tom Buchanan (Edgerton). He also discovers his next-door neighbor is mysterious millionaire Jay Gatsby, famous for the wildly extravagant parties he throws nightly. These characters show Nick how the wealthy live, complete with soap opera-style love triangles and soul-killing excess. He also learns about the connection between Gatsby and Daisy, along with the assortment of tragic consequences that result from it.

All of this would be far more affecting if every character in the story wasn’t reprehensible. That’s essentially the point in Fitzgerald’s novel: chasing money at all costs turns the pursuer into a terrible person. It’s a compelling argument, but it doesn’t allow readers (well, this particular reader) to connect with the story on an emotional level. It’s tough to root for people to succeed when you despise them. In Luhrmann’s film, however, they’re practically heroes. In the closing scenes, the film’s title is displayed without even a trace of irony.

Fitzgerald’s book is beloved mostly because of his elegant prose and how he uses the characters to symbolize the corruption of the American dream. Those aspects are tough to communicate in a visual medium, a big reason why many consider the story to be unfilmable. Luhrmann’s version will likely become further evidence for that argument, considering he takes everything metaphorical about the book and makes it painfully literal.

The renowned green light across the bay? Viewers know it’s significant because Luhrmann shows it roughly two dozen times, projects it into the crowd with 3D, and has characters say OUT LOUD what it symbolizes. Did you know Fitzgerald’s cautionary tale also has modern-day parallels? You will when you hear Jay-Z blasting from the speakers at one of Gatsby’s parties.

Despite using a jackhammer on material designed to be studied with a scalpel, Luhrmann gets solid performances from most of his actors. DiCaprio is a fine Gatsby, with his usual cold demeanor actually serving the character well here. Mulligan is equally compelling as Daisy, bringing some heft to a character usually treated as a flighty ditz.

Edgerton maintains his propensity for being one of the most compelling aspects of the films he stars in. I was also impressed by newcomer Elizabeth Debicki’s work as pro golfer Jordan Baker. A dead-ringer for Rooney Mara, she successfully portrays the character’s excitement regarding her environment while also keeping a decent head on her shoulders (although there’s certainly room for debate on that point.)

Unfortunately, Maguire is miscast as Nick. His constant voiceover is flat and unconvincing, and the look he uses to portray wide-eyed wonder makes him look like a serial killer instead. Fisher and Clarke, usually fine actors, don’t work either. Their melodramatic, often cartoonish, delivery make it seem like they teleported in from a completely different movie.

While I didn’t enjoy The Great Gatsby, I could easily see it becoming the go-to version of the story for students who don’t want to read the book. Because of its admittedly stunning and colorful imagery, and because it spoon-feeds Fitzgerald’s complex ideas to viewers, watching the movie is much easier than diving into the author’s prose.

The Great Gatsby is rated PG-13 for some violent images, sexual content, smoking, partying and brief language.

Grade: C