Beautiful Rendition of "The Great Gatsby" *Possible Spoilers!*

Rating: 9/10 (10 April 2014)

I was not looking forward to Baz Luhrmann's take on "The Great Gatsby".
Luhrmann's "Moulin Rouge" was an over-the-top animated cream pie that while looked wonderful, the plot and scenery-chewing histrionics of the cast made it appalling.
And I must admit while I was watching this film there were indeed a few moments when Luhrmann seemed to head off down the cartoon path once again but he reined those moments in very nicely.
"The Great Gatsby" moves, in more ways than one.
As much as I love Jack Clayton's 1974 take on the F. Scott Fitzgerald classic (which starred Robert Redford & Mia Farrow, by-the-way) this film does not feel distant, on the shelf, a curio from a bygone era.
Leonardo DiCaprio, Tobey Maguire & Carey Mulligan connect with us from the very beginning.
They make 1922 a living, breathing NOW.
The performances by the cast, the film editing, the costumes and the music move us along much ground to be covered from the novel and reels us in gently with such great command.
For the first time in my life, after reading the novel many times and seeing the other celluloid takes, I sat watching the final scenes, hearing Maguire's voice-over narration read those final lines, and cried.
I got it.
At last.
You will, too.