Style over substance, but what style!

Rating: 6/10 (13 May 2013)

Probably the most lavish film production since Gone with the Wind. Wow, I could not stop thinking about how much this film had to cost, it was that outrageously extravagant(Liberace would have loved it!)Style trumped substance so greatly that the story was secondary to the production, and it resulted in a story that appeared to be more fairy tale than real life, which was just the way Gatsby wanted it to be in his attempt to be publicly accepted as a great party host and man of distinction, especially as he made his great wealth through hidden criminal enterprises that he painfully tried to keep very secret.
DeCaprio was more or less effective as Gatsby, as his strangely nervous and angry moods and behavior reflected more a mental case than they did a fabulously successful businessman. I thought he should have been, as he was in the book, much more of a mystery man and less personally exposed in his great flaws for the story to be as engaging as the F. Scott Fitzgerald book. I did enjoy Toby Maguire's character Nick's story narration done later from a mental hospital, as he appeared at the time of the story to be the one normal person in a roomful of damaged people who could say what really happened. Carey Mulligan as Daisy was cute but didn't add enough presence for the role.
Films change original stories a little or a lot to match what the writer and director want as entertainment, which is always more important in and to Hollywood than is adherence to source material, so this film result was not fully faithful to Fitzgerald's book as it was more a Broadway musical/drama hybrid extravaganza that was as over the top as it was an unrewarding story about the Great Man. If you love lavish productions and costuming, see it for that and forget about the flawed story relating to the book. It was as grand a show as they get but not much more than that.