The Glossy Gatsby

Rating: 7/10 (8 November 2018)

Viewing with no knowledge of the storyline nor expectations, the Great Gatsby was an interesting and enjoyable watch and delivers visual delights that gloss over its flaws, but flaws it does have.
Firstly, if unfamiliar with the now 93 year old original novel, this vivid and slightly surreal adaptation presents a vision of 1920s New York that can lead you down a false path of wondering whether the tale is one big dream and if Gatsby is a figment of Nick's (our narrator and main protagonist) imagination or even whether Gatsby is perhaps some kind of conjurer magically manifesting his fantasy mansion and its entourage of characters into reality; notably as we first meet him flitting around his party sporting some kind of sorcerer's ring, which though the camera pans in on it on numerous times it receives no explanation other than latterly seeming to reflect with his obsession for the green light of the pier at Tom and Daisy's shoreline home. However, we should really take cue simply from Nick's first colourful experiences of New York City to understand that everything in the story is portrayed as larger than life and in the extreme. It is of course to be expected if (but only 'if') you know that Baz Lurhmann is at the directorial helm, with Moulin Rouge helping to explain the hallucinogenic hues of Gatsby's world, although this can be bewildering at times to the uninitiated viewer, especially when suddenly presented with Gatsby's yellow car darting around impossibly from West Egg to Manhattan like some cartoon car from Roger Rabbit (as others have suitably compared the scene).
Layered on top of the cotton candy dream-world is a modern soundtrack with notable use of Jay Z, Beyoncé and the XX. It's a bold move and challenge to established formats of period dramas being married to contemporaneous compositions. It's a fun rule to break, but the result is patchy in its application and the cynic within may wonder whether the score has been sold out to music execs pushing for that attractive soundtrack spin-off extra revenue. These things can be overlooked, as the ethereal feel of the film also somehow manages to mask a fairly substandard script (at worst when forced to listed to Gatsby's catchphrase of 'Old Sport' seemingly stuck on repeat, critical character underdevelopment (most notably with Elizabeth Debicki's intriguing but unexplored character of Jordan) and mediocre or hammy acting, of which nearly all the actors seem to be guilty of at some stage. When all is said done though, this is still a fun ride of a film and its imperfections are hidden with aesthetic distraction and its quick pace, despite clocking in at 143 minutes run time (although shorter if you deduct the soundtrack credit roll at the end).