The Great American Novel Becomes A Great American Classic!

Rating: 9/10 (13 May 2013)

It's hard to review a movie based on a novel and not feel compelled to compare it to the novel. The intricate details that fill the pages of any novel can't always be portrayed on screen. Most screenwriters are saddled with the burden of deciding which pieces of the novel must be cut out to avoid creating a movie that is too long to keep the moviegoer's attention. The Great Gatsby is a short novel and seems to have been a novel written for screen. In Luhrmann's adaptation of F. Scott Fitzgerald's novel, few pieces are left out.
Most people would criticize Tobey Maguire's Nick Carraway as being too vanilla. He is Gatsby's minion who indulges Gatsby's whims. However, that's precisely the character that Fitzgerald created. Watching the movie, it was no surprise why Nick Carraway was so fascinated. Leonardo DiCaprio's Gatsby was charming, elusive, captivating, and dark. Nick couldn't help but be drawn to Gatsby like a moth to a flame. No man, of this generation, could portray the poise and brilliance of Jay Gatsby on the level that he was portrayed by Leonardo DiCaprio.
Carey Mulligan encapsulates all that is Daisy Buchanan. The most pivotal quote in Fitzgerald's Gatsby is "...I hope she'll be a fool - that's the best thing a girl can be in this world, a beautiful little fool." She utters those words about her daughter and in that line, the reader is meant to understand that Daisy wasn't a fool, she was merely a woman acting foolishly. Carey Mulligan has a charm about her while playing Daisy. She likes being the center of attention and we, as the audience, don't mind giving her that attention. She is beautiful and soft-spoken. Her words and movements are chosen with such precision as to elicit the exact response she desires from whomever she chooses. Few actresses could embody the cruelty and selfishness that is Daisy Buchanan with the beauty Carey Mulligan maintained.
The chemistry amongst the actors in this picture is nearly flawless. The chemistry between Daisy and the mild-mannered Gatsby is breathtaking to witness. The intimacy between the two is marvelous and the emotional distance created by Tom's (Joel Edgerton) presence is heartbreaking. However, Daisy's chemistry with Tom is sensational. The words they say to each other are often cruel. However, the manner at which they say them to each other is meant to cripple, but never to kill. The two are callous towards each other and then transform into caring companions without causing the audience alarm. Isla Fisher, Jason Clarke, and Elizabeth Debicki are beautiful pieces of furniture in the elaborate house that is Luhrmann's Gatsby. Each of their characters individually sets and undertone that isn't to be missed.
One of the biggest flaws in this picture is its use of quotes from the book. Luhrmann didn't fully commit. He chose to take lines directly from the novel and then failed to use the actual quote.
The reason that Fitzgerald's novel is such a rich part of American literature is because the story can be interpreted in so many ways. Gatsby can be seen as a hopeless romantic, an obsessive mad man, or a greedy mobster. Daisy can be seen as selfish and cruel but also as a victim of her circumstance. The beauty of the novel is that it lets its characters be seen from every angle and allows itself to be interpreted in whichever way the reader deems necessary. Luhrmann has created a masterpiece that affords his moviegoers the same luxury as Fitzgerald's readers. The characters and scenery and costumes are so elegantly made that they could have been created entirely in Gatsby's imagination.