Overdone, overlong and deadly dull

Rating: 1/10 (27 May 2013)

This takes place in the 1920s. Nick Carraway (Toby Maguire) narrates it from a sanitarium. It's about Jay Gatsby (Leonardo DiCaprio) who is VERY wealthy and his obsession with Daisy (Carey Mulligan). The problem is she's married to someone else.
The novel is great but this movie completely trashes it. It makes ill-conceived changes in the story and goes on far too long. Also it's WAY overdone. There are endless parties at Gatsby's mansion and they're shoved in your face nonstop. A few times I had to close my eyes because there was too much going on! I saw it in 2D--in 3D it must be impossible to watch. When it isn't in your face it's deadly dull and moves at a snails pace. To make matters worse Maguire is lousy. Totally blank-faced in his role. Mulligan (who can be good) was even worse! I never got a grasp on her character or motivations. On the other hand DiCaprio was great as Gatsby. He's grown into an amazing actor. Very good-looking too. But this movie is mostly concerned with visuals--not the story. It manages the impossible--it's boring and overdone at the same time! Read the book instead.