Awful, banal, stylistic mess

Rating: 3/10 (16 May 2013)

I'm generally not a big fan of most movies that come out of Hollywood, but this one really takes the prize. I have not read the book so I will not comment on whether or not it's a good transition.
First off, why was it so long? After thirty minutes anyone with a normal brain capacity will be able to figure out how it ends; except for a few, unnecessary twists that have absolutely no bearing on either the narrative or the ending.
Secondly, the characters. They are so endlessly stereotypical and robbed of any interesting character traits. They fit perfectly - without exception - into character stereotypes and they portray nothing else than you would expect. It's like characters straight out of an amateur school project.
Thirdly, the style. You'd think that dragging viewers through almost three hours of boredom would elicit an amazing visual design, but no. It was unrealistic at best. If you want to go for realism (and this is very much a thing in the narrative) then go for it. If you want to create a periodical-inspired fantasy, then you have to be more imaginative - at least for my taste. I was left feeling confused about whether to see the whole thing as an intentional joke or a sincere, failed attempt.
Last, but not least, the soundtrack. Oh, God. I was cringing through every single track. They got the most overrated, overpaid and over- celebrated recording "artists" and made them produce modern mainstream music and made the actors dance like they're at drug party and NOT a lavish 1920's party.
It's a stylistic nightmare, the story has been repeated a thousand times over in all the arts ("OMG! I love her/him so much I lose everything but I believe in love until I die and nothing else matters cuz it's all I ever wanted!!!!!") spiced up with a dreadful soundtrack, horrible acting and shallow, uninspired characters. No offense to the actors - I've seen nearly all of them perform amazingly, but they had no chance here.
I hope the book is better - if this is the "great American Novel" then I know just where I won't be looking for a good story.