A dizzying dance, dramatically dead

Rating: 5/10 (28 May 2013)

It's disconcerting to see an actor working at a different level to those around him, but that's what's happening in Baz Luhrman's shiny plastic adaptation of F. Scott Fitzgerald's seminal novel. Leonardo Di Caprio's performance in the title role is one of range, detail, and pure star power - but Luhrman isn't able to up his game to match it. The director's trademark restless camera movement and hack 'n' slash editing works well for a while, when the party's in full swing. Fast forward two hours and the drama surrounding the maelstrom at the film's centre is inert.
This is a tragedy of the human condition filmed as a overwrought teenage love story. A love story depends on its central pairing, but the partnership between Daisy (Carey Mulligan, too often recalling her performance in Steve McQueen's Shame) and Gatsby never convinces - we're told of their love but it is never apparent, in reality, memory, or fantasy.
There are some fantastic individual scenes, pick of which would be Gatsby's ostentatious teatime reunion with Daisy. And as one would expect the party setups suitably capture the lust and excess of the period, with anachronistic rhythms from Jay-Z, which complement and aggravate in equal measure. But in the end the film failed to engage me on an emotional level, through no fault of the lead actor. This is a pity because it's a story that will, sadly, never not be relevant.