A somewhat peculiar adaptation...

Rating: 7/10 (26 December 2013)

7 because both Toby Maguire and Joel Edgerton were very, very good in this...
Peculiar, because it completely moves away from the POV of the narrator in the novel; Nick Carraway. The novel has the narrator, although first person, telling the story in almost a third person POV; he is rarely seen in the story at all. He is the outsider looking in, and it is quite detached; it is this that makes it such an interesting and unusual novel.
Baz has chosen to do something quite different here, and unlike the novel, and the first cinematic version starring the great Robert Redford as Gatsby (I love DiCaprio... but not the same), Nick Carraway's character, the narrator, becomes much more centre stage. In fact, this seems to be a study in what the viewers/readers would see, if this character was much more visible, rather than narrating from the sidelines.
I thought that was an interesting perspective and idea, which worked well because Toby McGuire is so fine in the role... but it did focus on him so much, that it detracted from the original plot quite a bit. It stands alone as a good film, but loses some of the original depth, especially the enigma that is 'The Great Gatsby', because it's really Nick Carraway that takes the main role here... and there's no real reveal of Gatsby (and what is shown, seems rather trivialised). In the original (and the novel), a sense of pity, or at least empathy, is easily elicited for Gatsby – who is, in the end, a rather forlorn character... I didn't feel the same was induced at all in this production, and so it seems to have missed the point.
Unlike Moulin Rouge... I hated the music choices here; there are so many fine jazz choices that the decision to use rap, house, and other inapt music really, really jarred. It was a wasted opportunity to include some of Australia's finest musicians (Goytye, my friend, Wally, in the closing credits, the exception, of course!).
Overall enjoyed it, but far from a masterpiece...