The "Okay" Gatsby (I will warn when spoilers come about)

Rating: 8/10 (11 May 2013)

I've given this a 10 out of 10 because on this website, in order to change the overall rating in any way you either give it a 1 out of 10 if you didn't like it or a 10 out of 10 if you did like it. And I liked it. But it was not a perfect film.
First off, I could tell right from the beginning of this film that it would divide Gatsby fans. Baz Luhrmann's direction and the overall cinematography of this film was...strange. Similar to his "Romeo + Juliet" remake, which to be honest, I kind of liked.
(Semi-spoiler alert, but, it's in the first 30 seconds of the film)
Baz depicts Nick Carraway as an alcoholic and insomniac, after the events of the Great Gatsby. The premise as to why Nick is telling the story of Gatsby is that he is in a session with a therapist or some kind of doctor, and he is venting. The doctor eventually suggests he writes this story down, and he does.
A lot of people did not like this idea, but I loved it. I thought it was extremely creative of Luhrmann to make his own spin as to how his interactions with Gatsby and the rest changed him forever. It was also a creative way to introduce exactly why we were hearing the story in the first place.
(no more spoilers for now)
I'd like to say Baz Luhrmann followed the book pretty damn closely. I wasn't sure if I liked the film during its first half. It seemed jumpy, and very...big. Every moment, every one of Gatsby's (and Buchanan's, actually) parties seemed so big. Everything was done so big the big moments didn't seem to feel as big as they should have.
A big reason I didn't like the film was the soundtrack. Florence + The Machine works for Gatsby. Jay-Z doesn't. It's an awkward pairing, Gatsby and hip-hop. It didn't work for me. And it took away from some moments, ESPECIALLY...
(alright spoiler alert again)
...Myrtle's death, which I might add, was done extremely poorly. Her body was also catapulted at least 30 feet in the air. I don't know what song played during her death, but it ruined it. Also, the overall scene was just shot poorly. If you hadn't read the book, you'd probably have not the faintest clue what was happening.
(no more spoilers again)
Let's talk about the acting. I have a beef with Leonardo DiCaprio. He seems to always play himself. He doesn't seem to have much of a range. Even in J. Edgar, I said to myself, "That's DiCaprio with a light accent and grey hair." He didn't look, talk, or act like Hoover. He generally looks, talks, and acts like himself. Luckily for DiCaprio, he has fantastic stage presence, so he gets credit for being the actor he is. I was disappointed when I liked his portrayal of Gatsby, because Gatsby isn't a reach for DiCaprio. It's another opportunity for Leo to play himself and get commended for it. He should get commended for it. He was a great Gatsby (no pun intended). But he didn't really have to struggle to obtain that look, that talk, etc. He plays himself again, but he does it really well.
Toby Maguire is another actor I've never been too fond of. I can't think of another movie that I thought he acted well in besides Pleasentville. Don't bring up Spider-Man, especially the third one. But I thought he was a very good choice to play Nick. He did a very good job, I was pleased.
Joel Edgerton is a guy not enough people know, and I feel that his name was just overshadowed by Leonardo and Toby. He did a phenomenal job as Buchanan. He portrayed Tom exactly how I think he should have been portrayed.
Carey Mulligan...was very good. But I have trouble with Luhrmann's characterization of Daisy. If you read the book, Daisy is supposed to be, for lack of a better term, a "fake bitch". She leads Gatsby on but really just crawls back to Tom. You really don't like her, and then you feel bad for Gatsby. In Luhrmann's film, you think of Gatsby as a moron for waiting for Daisy, and you feel sorry for Daisy instead. This probably isn't Mulligan's fault, but Luhrmann's instead.
(massive spoilers ahead)
Holy crap, Gatsby's death was done so well. Even as a reader of the novel, who was expecting it, they made the gunshot so unexpected, everyone in the theater jumped. People around me were crying. No matter how many gripes I had with the film, the last 15 minutes of the film were AMAZING. His death, his "funeral", the last couple of lines from Nick. It was all stunning cinema.
OVERALL, I'm giving this a 7 out of 10. Much better than the Robert Redford version, followed the book fairly closely, and the last 15 minutes of the film are able to make up for whatever flaws you found in the middle (minus that one scene that I mentioned earlier. That scene still sucks and it still angers me).