Trust the Audience

Rating: 5/10 (7 June 2013)

First let gets the initial visual spectacle out of the way. Its amazing. The scenes, the costumes and most if not all of the camera movements are expressive and creative. Its virtually impossible to have an issue with something appearing so beautifully. If this film we just a music video/art piece. A+ all the way. However.......
What I can and do take issue with is the fact that the filmmaker does NOT trust the actors or the script to tell the story.
I understand that it has become the standard fare to tell the story through special effects only. I feel that the movie makers here are afraid that if we are not continuously mystified by the visual effects then we will not understand the movie at all. However on behalf of movie goers with active brain cells I would like to see actual acting, character development and pauses amid the swirling SFX. There is a great cast here. There is an immense amount of talent here that was glossed over and not used.
We need to care about the characters you are showing us. You must ground them in some way. Everyone in this film feels too abstract. If all we see is them floating in the air then they will not matter to us, no matter how pretty or handsome you make them appear. There needs to be a contrast between the dazzling lights, loud music and actual people. There is great source material to draw from. F. Scott Fitzgerald's novel has many layers that can be used.
This is one reason why the film suffers. We know we are being cheated. We know that somewhere in the editors office there is all this great acting that is not being seen. We hope that somewhere in the screenplay of the novel there is more depth to the characters.
If you have read the novel you know that there is. If not, go and give it a chance. What a shame for the actors. What a shame for us because honestly I walked in wanting to love this movie version, but I was given nothing to hold on to.
Now to the music. I will tell you honestly when I was in the the theater and heard the first few beats of the rap music I thought that it was bleeding in from the Fast and the Furious next store. Rap music has its place but not in 1922. This felt like a cheap trick. One it did not go with the time period at all. And two instead of researching the REAL music of the Jazz Age they decided to cheat. This made the movie feel more like a music video than a novel. It was highly distracting. I felt that the film makers had done no research on the era at all. The real music of the Jazz Age was immensely innovative, experimental, soulful... The Harlem Renaissance etc. It is a shame and insult that virtually NONE of the music of that era was used in this movie.
It is truly sad that so many people went to so much obvious hard work to create this movie only to have it suffer from poor editing choices and misguided soundtrack.
If at all possible go back and research some kick ass real Jazz Age music. Re-edit for character development. Trust the audience!!!! We want to love you.