While undeniably flawed, this film is not be totally dismissed

Rating: 6/10 (8 June 2013)

First off, this is one of my favorite novels. I read it back in high school and haven't read it again since, so it's been around 15 years since I originally read it. I found myself mostly torn throughout the movie, so I definitely understand why it's been so polarizing for film critics. It almost impossible to write this spoiler free, so I eventually gave up. So here's my earlier SPOILER ALERT.
It's the roaring 1920s, the stock market is thriving and so is New York. A fairly unknown, yet highly publicized, wealthy man Jay Gatsby (Leonardo Dicaprio) appears seemingly out of nowhere in a wealthy Long Island suburb. He lives in a lavish mansion and throws wild, out of this world parties. Nick Carraway (Tobey McGuire), who's drawn to big city and the lifestyle of the elite, happens to move in right next door to him. Nick grows very curious of his new neighbor and is eventually invited to one of his parties where he meets Gatsby. He learns that Jay is interested in meeting his cousin, Daisy Buchanan (Carey Mulligan) who lives directly across the bay from Gatsby's mansion with her blue blooded, unfaithful husband Tom Buchanan (Joel Edgerton). Nick becomes emerged in Gatsby's world of nouveau riche and witnesses first hand Gatsby's hopeless optimism, larger than life persona, obsession and ultimately, his doom.
To talk about this film, I have to discuss it in halves. The first half of the film really brings the movie down. I found as the characters were introduced (outside of Nick) they were mostly over the top and really outlandish (almost laughably so). I also had issue with the soundtrack. I mean, it's the 1920s and it's set to Kanye and Jay-Z music? I mean really? It didn't make any sense to me at all as it didn't fit the era and made those scenes really bizarre. I get trying to modernize the film, but this was not the way to do it (and this is coming from a huge fan of both of those guys). Most of the time, the special effects were really subpar (the car driving scenes were really cartoonish) and 3D for the film was completely unnecessary and is a blatant cash grab. If there ever was a film that didn't need 3D, this was it.
Now for what the movie got right (the second half of the film mostly). I thought the film was really well paced. It certainly didn't feel like a 2.5 hour movie and there was plenty to keep you interested in the film. The costumes were very well done and captured the era well (compared to similar films of that era). At times the cinematography was incredible and really brought you into Gatsby's dream like world (the way the director captured Daisy's mansion across the bay and the green light was really well done and it reminded me of the novel).
I really loved Tobey McGuire as Nick Carraway! He always seems to have this quiet naivety in his roles and it was a perfect fit for Nick (another example that comes to mind in Keanu Reeves as Neo in The Matrix). In fact, I can't think of a better performance by Tobey and I hope he gets some recognition for this in awards season. Carey Mulligan gets Daisy about as well as you can, as a young woman who is completely oblivious to the real world and how her actions affect it. Joel Edgerton portrayed Tom adequately, I remember him being much more of a detestable person in the book (I thought this was the character that would've been really over the top). Dicaprio was good as Gatsby, but clearly not his best work. There's a deep sense of loneliness and longing for acceptance that personified Gatsby and outside of a few strong scenes, I felt he was a bit lacking there.
But most importantly, I think they got the story right and that's half the battle isn't it? As the major aspects of the plot unfold in the 2nd half, the characters are more believable, the events more meaningful and the film just gets better (mirroring the novel fairly well). As this point the story took over and the earlier flaws of the film seems less significant. The final scenes were gripping (I knew exactly what was coming) and were clearly the best part of the film. At the end of the film, I felt the novel was brought back to life (this is the main reason why I feel the film has been harshly dismissed by critics). I remembered just how detestable Daisy and Tom were. I remembered just how fake the people around him were and how sad it was that none of them came to say goodbye to him. The profound sense of remorse I felt for Gatsby when I read the novel, some fifteen years ago came flooding back and it affected me hours after I left the theater.
There are some important lessons in the novel that are still relevant even today. You can't change the past, no matter how much wealth, power and influence you obtain. And sometimes some things just aren't meant to be and no matter how hard you try to make it so, you can't change that. That is the great tragedy that is Gatsby; he was a character you admired, sympathized with and cheered for. But he was inevitably doomed because he couldn't let go of the past and his obsession drove him beyond reason. In this regard, the film was successful in my opinion. I'll conclude with my overall impression of the film (and the novel) by quoting Nick Carraway, because he illustrates this perfectly near the end of both the film and the novel:
"They're a rotten crowd... You're worth the whole damn bunch put together".
@the_move_snob
www.themoviesnob.ca