Surprisingly really liked it

Rating: Null/10 (7 June 2013)

It's no secret that while I always wanted this film to be good, I never had high expectations. Those expectations were lowered with each new trailer, each new released clip, because it seemed totally opposite from what Fitzgerald intended in the novel. The film was pretty much what I expected in its complete theatricality, but what I didn't expect was to like it as much as I did.
I don't think this is a great adaptation of the novel, or even a great film, but it sure is a highly entertaining one. As shallow as the film looked in the trailers, I thought it would all only work on the surface but have no actual understanding of the novel. Despite the style and it being as subtle as a hammer to the head, it doesn't completely feel misguided in its execution. That's because the novel's criticism of this same style the film has can be seen as some sort of underlying satire or even parody when it comes to the more over-the-top scenes. Whatever it is, it kinda works. The only other Baz film I've ever seen is Moulin Rouge and I thought that film lost a lot of steam as it went on, even though it does calm down. This one does too, but the source material is so much more interesting that I can't imagine someone making it completely boring. Quite a few scenes are ridiculous in their overbearingness, but they still manage to be a lot of fun.
A huge reason why this works is because of the cast, and I actually didn't have a big problem with any of them. Maguire is the biggest mixed result here, but even then I expected him to be awful so I was pleasantly surprised. I also expected Dicaprio to completely butcher this character by the clips and trailers I'd seen, and that's the biggest surprise here. He gives Gatsby a lot of the original intrigue that carries us through the novel, and his presence always remains grounded, sometimes even contrary to how the film is. My problem with Dicaprio here, and with him in other films, is his inconsistent accent that does get in the way of his performance, and so many of his "Old Sport" deliveries are cringe-worthy. But besides that, I think he did a really good job. The same with Edgerton and Mulligan, both who do the most justice to how I envisioned the characters in the novel. Mulligan's known for playing quietly sophisticated characters with hidden vulnerability, but she subtly gets to the root of Daisy and by the end of it I had the same feelings towards her here that I've always had towards her in the novel- contempt. She does a great job of exposing her for who she really is as the film goes on, but never as obvious as the film around her.
So to everyone's surprise, I quite liked this film. As an adaptation, it's actually worthy because of the acting, and as a stand-alone film it's even more worthy for how entertaining and intriguing it remains, either in spite or because of all of the absurdity on screen.