How many times can one person say Old Sport?....

Rating: 8/10 (23 March 2014)

Nick Carraway is in a sanitarium for depression, and is persuaded by his doctor to write a therapeutic account of what put him there.
Seven years earlier, he had moved to a house on Long Island adjoining the sumptuous mansion owned by fabulously wealthy Jay Gatsby.
After attending one of Gatsby's legendary parties, Nick is asked to arrange a meeting with his cousin, Daisy, now married, who was Gatsby's true love, prior to war service.
Nick comes to realise that Gatsby, once poor, has recreated himself as a fascinating millionaire purely to win Daisy back, but the events of a drunken afternoon conspire to bring about an ending which is anything but happy.....
I hate to admit it, but I've never read the novel, and have never seen the Redford version, so depending on how you feel about I went in cold and was pleasantly surprised of the luscious and beautiful story that was told.
Luhrmann can do visuals and sumptuous sets all day long, and they do add to the film, but a lot of the time, I felt he was harking back to his two most successful movies Moulin Rouge! And WSRAJ. Particularly the former, especially during the party scenes.
The performances are first class, and DiCaprio is as excellent as expected, but thanks to wonderful turns from the likes of Mulligan and Edgerton, he doesn't rule the film like you'd expect.
Maguire is the weal link here, basically channelling Peter Parker again.
I appreciate that the film is this good because of the source material, and I will seek the book and Redfords version now.
But still a good movie.