A new and exciting depiction of an old classic.

Rating: 9/10 (23 February 2016)

The 1920's, a time roaring with illegal alcohol consumption, new money and extravagant parties. The Great Gatsby begins based solely on Nick Caraway (Tobey Maguire), a hard working young man who newly moves to West Egg in New York. Nick Caraway narrates the entire film in a doctors office which you see in the beginning, reminiscing back on the Summer of 1922 and the time he met Gatsby.
This is a 2013 film directed by the famous director Baz Luhrmann. Luhrmann has directed other films like, Moulin Rouge! and Romeo and Juliet. The Great Gatsby was no exception to Luhrmann's greatness. He picked the cast wonderfully and even though at times the camera is spinning and the scenery is moving so fast, it adds a great depth and realization of the fast moving lifestyle that the 1920's were.
Gatsby is a mystery for the first bit of the movie and his face is finally revealed during an extravagant party he has put together in his mansion on West Egg. The camera pans to his face and when you see him you feel as if you are gasping for air. He is a beautifully put together man with his hair perfectly slicked back with a smile, almost smirk on his face and a gleam in his eye. Gatsby is played by Leonardo DiCaprio. DiCaprio does a beautiful job depicting a 1920's man in love with a married women and facing the struggles of being "new money" during this time period. It is easy to tell DiCaprio puts his heart and soul into the characters he is playing and when he is Gatsby you forget he is acting.
Nick Caraway is Gatsby's neighbor and has a cousin, Daisy. Daisy lives across the water on East Egg. Daisy is married to Tom Buchanan (Joel Edgerton), a well educated man from old money who is in line to inherit his families wealth. As the story unravels it turns out Daisy and Gatsby are old lovers and when Gatsby went to war, Daisy met Tom and married him. Gatsby purposefully bought and owns the house across the water to be close to Daisy and symbolizes the hope he has to still be with her and be the man she loves by the green flashing light at the end of her dock. Daisy, who is played by Carey Mulligan, really does an amazing job. She as an actress makes you love her, hate her, sympathize for her and want her dead all within the 143 minutes of this film. Her costumes and makeup along with everyone else's in the film are very spot on to the 1920's and makes everything even more believable. To capture the 1920's the women are constantly in dresses and skirts with bob'd hair cuts with hair pieces in them. The men are usually found in a suit and even when Gatsby takes a swim at the end of the movie, he is wearing a one piece swimming suit. While watching this film there are times that you forget that it was not actually filmed 100 years ago but only 3.
The music choice can quickly brings you back to the 21st century. Artists like Emeli Sande, Fergie, Lana Del Rey, Sia, JAY Z, Beyonce, and many more popular artists of this time are main contributors to the soundtrack. It is a constant modern twist on the ever so popular and famous jazz music. The music is appropriate to every individual scene throughout the movie and gets you into the mood the director and actors want you to feel at different times.
This movie is a must see of the time and leaves you feeling heartbroken and oddly satisfied at the same time. The movie is competing with so much of peoples expectations since there is the famous book written by F. Scott Fitzgerald in 1925 and the Jack Clayton directed Gatsby of 1974. Even with seeing the other movie, and reading the book this movie still adds new and exciting ideas and depictions of the ever so famous story of, The Great Gatsby.