Gatsby As You've Never Seen It Before-- A Must See!

Rating: 6/10 (8 May 2013)

A remake of a remake of a remake of a novel that pretty much every high school in America includes in its curriculum is not an easy legacy, but I think Baz Luhrmann does a fantastic job of tackling the material. His somewhat flashy, story-driven methods give the novel life in a way that's never been seen before. I'm not going to compare it to the other remakes, because that feels redundant and pointless, but insofar as the book goes, it was a great adaptation. The director stuck close to the author's intent and really got the audience invested in these characters. The cast gave a great performance, with Mulligan and Clarke going above and beyond. Maguire, as usual, is unintentionally comedic in some of his expressions, but as someone who is not a fan, I thought he did pretty well. The sets, costumes, music...everything was flashy and exuberant and perfectly matched the mood of the movie.
I know a lot of people are complaining about the soundtrack, but that was one of my favorite things about the film. Luhrmann didn't even try to stay period appropriate, because The Great Gatsby is a novel that transcends the time it was placed in. By using contemporary artists, he was able to effectively position the film in the audience's mind as something they could relate to. To borrow and roughly paraphrase a quote from the book/movie, the soundtrack invited them within, even as they were without. I'll admit, he made a few missteps where the music just flat-out took the viewer out of the movie entirely (a certain Jay-Z number comes to mind), but overall, it was a brilliant directing choice.
I'll also say that the movie ran a bit long, with certain parts feeling overdone and unnecessary. I watched it in 3D, which I would not recommend unless you really, really love 3D. The movie is visually stunning and does not need the added dimension; in fact, I'd go so far as to say it hurts the tone of the film. That said, it was a great film and I would definitely recommend it.