Luhrmann's Best Work Yet

Rating: 8/10 (17 March 2014)

A Midwestern war veteran finds himself drawn to the past and lifestyle of his millionaire neighbor.
The reviews on this film seem to be mixed, or maybe even negative. Some people really disliked the musical choices (though I felt them better suited than Luhrmann's "Moulin Rouge" choices, which varied from great to terrible). Some disliked Tobey McGuire, either for his acting or for the "lapdog" take on Nick Carraway. That seems more fair.
I loved it. While "Romeo + Juliet" may go down as Luhrmann's masterpiece, this is really quite a trip, with plenty of opulence without ever making that the point. He wanted a love story -- if this can be called that -- and not a morality tale on money, Wall Street, or anything else.
There seems a need to compare Jay Gatsby to the "Wolf of Wall Street" merely because DiCaprio appeared in both films in the same year, and both are excessively wealthy. There is no need for that, because again, it is not about the money. The money was merely a means to an end for Gatsby, not the goal in itself.