The Luhrmann Touch displays its crass heavy hand.

Rating: 4/10 (8 April 2014)

F. Scott Fitzgerald's words continue to stymie filmmaker's attempts to present a decent rendering of his classic 20th century novel The Great Gatsby. The 26 and 49 version gave it little respect while the big budget 74 treatment suffered from the miscasting of long in the tooth Redford and too wispy Mia Farrow as Daisy, though rumored alternatives Ali McGraw and Sibyl Shepherd may have made it even more of a perilous effort. Enter the 2013 failure under the over baked heat and light direction of Boz Luhrmann's wretched excess.
Given the same application as his insult to the Belle Epoque in Moulin Rouge Luhrmann slaps on the divine decadence of the Jazz Age at a furious pace while attempting in surreal fashion to remain au courant with an ill fitting hip hop score amid his flashy and noisy compositions populated by wind up flappers under car lot lighting.
While the 74 was a disappointment this abrasive lout of a picture is far more of a mess with Luhrmann's response to everything bigger and louder. Even the Valley of Ashes is expanded to the size of Akron. Matching the overall bombast of this carnival (albeit the midway and not a sideshow) are scenery chewing performances led by Len DiCaprio as Gatsby and the rest of the cast following suit with the exception of Tobey Maguire's limp wishy washy Nick Carroway who seems blinded by the light from the outset.
Along with Peter Jackson's botched King Kong, Gatsby is another example of Hollywood's passion for eye popping technology at the expense of story telling and human interest. Unfortunately with the failed 50s gimmick of 3-D catching on these days meretricious offerings like this will probably be the rule for years to come.