Not that bad at all

Rating: Null/10 (3 June 2013)

Any movie by Australian director Baz Luhrmann is worth seeing because he has such a distinctive and exuberant style and you have to admire his willingness to be different, even if he is - as the "Guardian" film critic Peter Bradshaw put it - "a man who can't see a nuance without calling security for it to be thrown off his set". In different ways, I enjoyed "Moulin Rouge" and "Australia" and I was prepared to give "The Great Gatsby" a go, in spite of some harsh reviews.
The F Scott Fitzgerald novel of 1925 has been filmed no less than four times before, notably in 1974 when Robert Redford played the plutocrat Jay Gatsby and Mia Farrow was his great love Daisy Buchanan in a restrained interpretation. Of course, Luhrmann does not do restraint and, in this movie, as well as his trademark grandiose sets and extensive CGI, he has shot the work in 3D, but I can only take so much Bazz and for this jazz I chose to see a 2D version, although even then it is very obvious where the 3D was intended to hit you in the eyes.
It is, of course, over the top (most obviously in those huge party scenes in the Gatsby mansion), the framing device of Nick Carraway (Tobey Maguire) in a sanatorium is unnecessary, and the use of non- contemporary music by the likes of Jay-Z often jars. But there are some lavish sets and some gorgeous costumes and the whole thing has undeniable energy. Leonardo di Caprio has both the charm and the menace of Gatsby, while Cary Mulligan as Daisy continues to grown as an international star. Not so much "All that Bazz" as "Not that bad".