Pleasing to the Eye, Ear, and Heart

Rating: 7/10 (17 May 2013)

I've literally never seen more people divided on a film as people are on the Great Gatsby. Having seen it last night, I liked it. First of all, it was true to the book. When a moment happened in the movie, I felt the exact same way as I felt when I read it in the book. That, to me, is a successful adaptation. The sets was amazing and so colorful and gorgeous. I have never, ever seen sets like that. Some might say they were excessive, which they were, but I think the reason they were was to convey the time period's tone of excess and greed, which it did effectively. The cast was very good. Leonardo was a very good Gatsby, McGuire is perfect for the awkward, 3rd wheel narrator Nick, and Mulligan is solid as Daisy. Finally, for all people dissing Jay-Z's music choices, the soundtrack worked. The music fit the moods of the respective scenes and also fit with the colorful excess of the sets. Ergo, it did not feel out of place.
My conclusion: It wasn't trying to be exactly like the book. It was trying to put a slightly 21st century spin on it, which I understood and appreciated. Was it excessive? Without question, but I almost feel like by being excessive, it properly conveyed the emotions the story is supposed to convey. In the end, I felt the way I was supposed to feel and while I probably wouldn't have chosen to remake the book quite this way, I thought this adaptation was interesting, colorful, emotional, and a solid film in its own right. Not great, but definitely good and worth seeing in theaters too. (This is coming from someone who hardly goes to any movies in theaters)