Almost but no cigar

Rating: 7/10 (2 February 2014)

In high school, a TA had us label the characters of The Great Gatsby as moral, immoral, and amoral, which was my introduction to the concept of amorality. This movie portrayed the amorality rather clearly, however, I see it more now as not so much as not caring or having no value system at all, but as rampant selfishness and selfcenteredness. The characters had values or knew of what should be valued; they simply chose to live in disregard. Where the film falls short is in how it fulfills that portrayal for its first half to two thirds. The acting seems hollow, especially DiCaprio and Maguire, yet I think that was the intention and I think it works or would have worked if it were not for the music.
Whenever a film's score takes the viewer's attention away from the film, the viewer's interest wanes, at least in my case. I do not know why the makers thought that anachronism replete with raps, dubstep beats, and auto-tuning would enhance the story telling or better engage the audience than the actual period music.
I think that the hollow acting conveys a sense of falsehood and pretense in line with the story's theme, however, what seems like poor acting is distracting. The flashy and HD/ADD attention span editing, lighting, and general cinematography enhance that sense along with adding a feeling of insincerity, emptiness, and surrealism. I think that these latter two techniques were intentional and work well for this story. Unfortunately, they also pushed me to the edge of not caring about the movie itself, then the music plunged me into disinterest for at least the first third. I think I would enjoy seeing this movie with a period score, which would lift my rating by at least one star.
Eventually, the music fades into the background and it becomes apparent that Maguire and DiCaprio can indeed act. The characters and my attention come into focus. The director can actually direct and I forget that I am watching a movie.
This movie made me sad(der) and reminded me of how devoid of true love and value the human centered world really is. In the end, I enjoyed this movie. Its makers had something good going, but they very nearly destroyed it with unfitting and terrible music.