Oversimplified Version of an Important American Story

Rating: 3/10 (15 July 2013)

I won't waste any time here talking about how the style wasn't suited to my personal taste, instead I will talk about the content rather than the way in which it was presented. I think that Baz Luhrmann tried to take a great American story and make it accessible and comprehensible to even the simplest of American teenage girls, and the problem is just that. They walked out of the theater pining for a love like Gatsby and Daisy's. It's almost like the point of the whole story was taken away by the ridiculously written (and delivered) dialogue (don't get me wrong, I love almost all of the actors in this film, there really was just no hope) and the overly embellished and unnecessary direction, and really, everything else. I honestly was wondering what Luhrmann was condoning and what he was being critical of once this movie was over. Maybe it's all a pan and he was really just poking fun at us. Or maybe he really didn't think it through and had washed out the real story to even himself. I also found myself having nostalgia for the old 1974 version with Robert Redford and Mia Farrow, something I never thought was possible. Overall, this is a true example of style over substance and not worth the time it takes to watch it unless you think you can be adequately distracted enough by the lush cinematography. Maybe if it was an hour shorter. Maybe.