The Greatest Gatsby.

Rating: 9/10 (8 June 2015)

The Great Gatsby (2013): Dir: Baz Luhrmann / Cast: Leonardo DiCaprio, Tobey Maguire, Carey Mulligan, Joel Edgerton, Isla Fisher: Dazzling update of the F. Scott Fitzgerald book about class and hope. Set in flashbacks 1922 as a writer, played by Tobey Maguire is urged by his psychiatrist to write about his issues. He has been reduced to a drunken depressed individual but he recounts the impression made upon him when he visited his cousin. She is married but her husband is involved in numerous affairs. Five years earlier she was involved with a mysterious individual named Gatsby who was poor at that time but now he is rich and throwing massive parties where nobody seems to know who he is. Gatsby longs for the lost romance and sends Maguire an invitation to one of his parties to convince him to reunite him. Director Baz Luhrmann is gifted with blaring music and massive visual production as he showcased wonderfully in Moulin Rouge and Romeo and Juliet. Leonardo DiCaprio plays off the mysterious nature of Gatsby who is venting his desperation to rekindle this relationship. Maguire observes him with great awe with his commanding nature hindered by the past. Carey Mulligan plays Gatsby's past lover torn between happiness and a shallow wealthy routine. Joel Edgerton plays the pompous husband whose deceit is obvious and his wealth able to dominate. Isla Fisher makes an appearance but her shopaholic days are now within a different era and setting. Depressing yet stunning update of this classic vision of wealth and the things it cannot buy. Score: 9 / 10