Beautiful to look at...but not much else.

Rating: 6/10 (29 May 2015)

The cinematography and costimography are beautiful. The houses,the clothes,the parties...it all gives you that "good" feeling when you watch it. It's style. Over substence. I felt that dialogue is only something that is in-between lavish parties. Luhrmann in his style put the accent and more thought in the way movie should look and how lavish parties should be than the real story and what that story means. The thing you will remember after you watch the movie is style. The story? I never felt that Luhrnamm thought about that much. Toby McGuire is widely miscast as Nick. To make it worse they totally changed Nick. In the movie he ended up in sanatorium and is telling the story to the doctor but because of this we can not trust his judgement and what he tells us about people he is talking about.The characters never impress and never seem that much relevant or complexed. It is like they are merely figures put in the grand clothes and grand houses. Di Caprio as Gatsby was good but the problem is that there was more focus on parties and houses and music(I'll get to that later) to appreciate the characters fully. He made the best he could from an underwritten script and role. I never fully felt that Gatsby is such a grand,mysterious but at the same time complexed character. It was all said in the build-up prior to seeing him for the first time but once that happens there is not much excitement.Carey was OK as Daisy but didn't impress that much.Again the focus wasn't on the characters that much so that's a part of problem. Now-the music. Just another proof how Luhrmann didn't wanna make a faithful adaption of the novel that will actually get a point of the story but a blockbuster. A soundtrack is a bold,original move but distracts from the feeling that these are gold 20's. It is even disturbing to watch a party that was supposed to be in the 20's and hear Jay-Z raping.There is some kind of a mix in some songs(will.i.am's Bang Bang or Fergie's "A little Party") between jazz and modern and while that's interesting it's a prime proof of what Luhrmann was going at.A loud,sparkly,flashy movie that is remembered primarly for that.Luhrmann uses his "the more the better" rule and puts all the attention to the parties while nothing comes out of a story. When you look under the surface this movie is bland and empty and gives no impression when it comes to storytelling and the characters. I like the scene where Gatsby throws his clothes down at the bed. It was beautifully shot. Also,Lana Del Rey's "Young and beautiful" captures the character of Daisy and I'll give a plus for that. But the soundtrack should have been made of primarly 20's music-not putting modern music in the movie-it detracts from the feeling that this is set in the 20's. Overall,I'll give it 6/10 simply for the visual beauty of the movie,a good build-up for Gatsby- shots of his back only,"Mr.Gatsby does not exist","You must know Gatsby"...etc. and a good songs from soundtrack-but for TODAY'S WORLD.