Beautiful recreation of an American classic

Rating: 9/10 (26 May 2013)

This is a beautifully shot film from beginning to end.
The music (mostly modern) and party scenes were both excellent. The movie brings New York City of the 1920s to life. It is worth seeing for this aspect alone.
It was a pleasure to experience this retelling of the story. I have to admit that it's been over three decades since I read the book, so I enjoyed becoming reacquainted with it.
I'm hardly in a position to assess whether the movie agrees with the book in every detail. I don't think it matters. However, the movie does seem true to the spirit of the book.
I liked the way the filmmakers honoured FSF's beautiful and profound prose. They didn't have to do that, and they don't do it with most movies based on great fiction. I thought this aspect was integrated beautifully into the film.
The acting in the movie is excellent, especially Di Caprio's Gatsby. This man has developed into a great actor and a fine movie star. It's to his credit that he can carry a movie like this. (Indeed, who else could have played Gatsby?)
The relationship dynamics between Gatsby, Daisy, Tom and Nick (as shown in the movie) worked completely for me. Nick's fascination, Tom's arrogance, hypocrisy and repulsiveness, Daisy's confusion and turmoil, and of course Gatsby's lovesick despair. The performers delivered all of it.
On the downside, I wasn't particularly moved by the movie -- and I am easily moved. (One exception was the electrifying scene where Gatsby meets Daisy again.) Some iffy aspects of the movie's plot, character development and dialogue are actually more attributable to the original book than anything else. If anything Luhrmann may have stayed too close to the original novel.
A few aspects are stylized (i.e. not quite realistically portrayed), but this did not ruin the movie for me.
In making this fine movie, Luhrmann et al. have done justice to FSF's American classic.
I hasten to add that you will enjoy the film even if you haven't read the book, and even if the thought of going to a film based on a work of literature seems boring to you. It isn't a boring movie at all.