An overly energetic but still competent adaptation

Rating: 7/10 (11 May 2013)

As long as you go into this film accepting that it is not even remotely accurate as a period piece, this is a competent if overly energetic adaptation of the novel. The main themes are preserved and in fact laid quite bare before the audience, moreso than in the Robert Redford adaptation. This film in particular succeeds in painting Gatsby as a tragic figure, a victim of careless riches (not his own riches, but that of others, in particular Daisy and Tom), which of course was the intent of Fitzgerald. The notion of hope that defines Gatsby for our narrator and guides Nick is also clarified in the film, and it is tied effectively with the tragic ending. One theme, though, which is not touched at all is that of the midwestern values vs. the northern NYC values. The film does emphasize that Nick is both within and without Wall Street, but it doesn't clarify Fitzgerald's intent to portray most of the characters as misplaced and transplanted Midwesterners.
That said, the film falters in its own energy. Jordan, Nick's semi-love interest, is not given nearly enough attention despite the fact that Elizabeth Debicki steals every scene she's in with her surly and tall figure. The ending also felt rushed; we never met Gatsby's father, nor did the film take much time to meditate on just how careless Tom and Daisy really were. This was mentioned in passing at the film's conclusion, but if you've read the novel or seen the older adaptation you'll remember that the story makes a point to illustrate how carelessly they've moved on with their lives, how little it matters to Daisy that Gatsby took the fall for her. George Wilson, the struggling and poor mechanic in the Valley of Ashes, is also pushed to the sidelines until the climactic scene--his character and misery should have been sketched in slightly more detail.
Instead of bringing out these various aspects of the story in greater detail and liveliness, the film instead chooses to puff up its beginning with one too many party scenes. Dazzling though they may be, the screen time they took up could have been more wisely spent.
A good film, to be sure, but not all its decisions were wise ones.