Flawed masterpiece

Rating: 7/10 (10 February 2014)

Watch this film, but try to keep an open mind through the opening 30 mins - it paints a false impression of what this movie is going to be like. As many other reviewers have said it begins with far too much visual and auditory punch, but the real flaw is the use of modern music. At times in the first 5 mins this is cleverly done with the clear sense that the movie characters are hearing one style, while we are hearing another, but as the movie continues the distinction becomes quite blurred. This culminates in the party scene, which as a portrayal of the 20's is so far off the mark that I had to wonder if the producers were smoking something when they decided to take that slant. You are left with the feeling that Baz rejected a 20's setting and decided to set the story in a fantastical parallel universe.
Get past this and the rest of the movie is sublime with a great leading performance by DiCaprio - perhaps the best I've seen from him. It perfectly captures the sentiments of Fitzgerald's classic - the dark side of the American Dream.
So make time for this masterpiece, just get through that first 30 mins.