As subtle as a drag queen at high tea...and as garish

Rating: 5/10 (22 May 2013)

Sheer intensity and OTT approach lose a sense of carelessly drifting through lives that is so prominent in Fitzgerald's work.
That Baz decided to institutionalise Nick to facilitate the story-telling is unfortunate as it is an ill fit with the character. The storyline and plot was otherwise accurately depicted.
There was a great party scene at Tom's city apartment which embodied the ugliness of tastelessness. Unfortunately Gatsby's parties looked as if a lucky packet threw up on them. Any romanticism of sitting under that lilac tree was destroyed.
In terms of set, the architecture was OTT, even for the nouveau riche. Beautiful costume design, thanks to Tiffany's and Prada, was one of the films greatest achievements. The soundtrack unfortunately layered too many tracks and cut too often to lend meaning or depth to a scene. The 3D added an extra layer of unnecessary distraction from the heart of the story.
Reducing the references to the green light of hope, Doctor T. J. Eckleburg's omnipresent gaze and Gatsby's "old sport" tagged onto every sentence could have been an easily cut the indulgence down by 30 mins.
Leonardo and Carey were a well cast Gatsby and Daisy, and Joel a convincing enough "villain". Tobey, could have held back on the Gatsby adoration a little.
Overall, did not translate as well into Baz's world of extravagance as did Romeo and Juliet and Moulin Rouge.