The Great Gatsby is a cinematic, dramatic & visual feast.

Rating: 7/10 (19 May 2013)

One of the most awaited Hollywood movie this year. Based on a novel, its a story of Gatsby, more accurately a love story of Gatsby. Set in the New York City of 1920s, The Great Gatsby a cinematic, dramatic & visual feast. 3D effects makes it immensely absorbing and attractive. The grand sets, the attire, cinematography, music, dialogues & performances, everything together creates impressive scenery on the screen.
The film is narrated by Nick Carraway (Tobey Maguire-aka Spider man), who is the cousin brother of Daisy (Carey Mulligan) , who is married to one the richest man of America, Tom Buchanan, & is also the ex of Mr. Gatsby.
Mr. Gatsby is a mystery. Nobody has exact clue about what he does and from where he got millions of money. Some says he is a spy, some says a murder, for some he is an Oxford man, a war fighter, a drug dealer, a Mafia & interestingly some believes he does not even exist. But he does, he has money, depth in his mind, has desires, determination, passion & most importantly hope (as reminded by the narrator time and again).
Gatsby throws the most glittering party of NYC, time and again, but he invites nobody. Interestingly, in NYC, if it's Gatsby's party, it is understood that whole of NY is invited. Glamour, glitz, alcohol, drugs, girls, music (Jaz), dance floor, you can have all of them, as much you want, at no cost. He has bureaucrats, administrative people, wealthy people, celebrities and all, as guest, in his parties. He is respectable to all of them. Nobody knows (or even care to know) the reason for these parties. But he had the reason. Gatsby acts this way in hopes of winning back Daisy's, his ex, love despite five years of separation and her marriage to another man, Mr. Buchanan. He planned his reunion with Daisy and took help of her cousin, who is also his neighbour, Nick.
The first half an hour tries to baffle you in the name of Jay Gatsby. Director, Baz Luhrmann, unsuccessfully tried to create hysteria of Gatsby. But, when he really appears, some 30 minutes later, smiling, dressed elegantly & talking gracefully, you feel like on cloud nine.
I am a Leo fan and firmly believes that he is the best we have today. Leonardo Di Caprio, as Jay Gatsby, is a treat to watch. He is undoubtedly the most ( successfully) experimenting actors, who keeps balance of both commercial & artistic aspects, in the world today. Whenever you see him, you do not want to see anything else. After playing a cruel plantation owner in Django UnChained, he is immensely convincing as a baffling lover, who has a father like figure, who guides him in his works, played by none other than Amitabh Bacchan. Mr. Bacchan, in an special appearance (which according to him is not his Hollywood debut but a friendly gesture to the director) left his mark as an actor, unlike Anil Kapoor in Mission Impossible. He was raw.
Tobey Maguire, the narrator, has in fact more footage than Gatsby himself. You see the film through his eyes & heart. But that's where films negative point lies, if there are any. Carey Mulligan, as Daisy, and Joel Edgerton, as Tom Buchanan are good. Particularly Joel Edgerton played MR. Buchanan, a rich American, polo player & flamboyant to the core.
Script is a delight. NYC going through changes, post World War I, in 1920s is, off course, a work of imagination but it works like magic. Screenplay and cinematography are top notch. Dialogues are impressive, & the best part is you don't have to see dictionary to understand them. They are simple but have sole and wit in them.
Overall, The Great Gatsby is a love story of selflessness which has some really good looking dishes on the supper table with an average starters, but good main course and desserts. Anything less than 7/10 will be an underestimation of this charming tale. What say "old sport" ??