Chaotic, frantic, and emotional with heavy handed imagery. Exactly how Gatsby should be.

Rating: 9/10 (20 May 2013)

I hadn't read any critic's reviews on this piece before seeing this movie, I finally did the right thing and saw a movie for myself without letting pretense, opinion or bias of another individual interfere with my experience. But going into the movie I did understand that many critics' reviews were not favorable. After seeing this movie I am absolutely baffled at how this could be so.
First off, this movie is a fairly accurate representation of the novel. All of the key moments of the book are left nearly intact and if changed they are simply subject of stylistic interpretation. Which brings me to my next point: stylistic choices. I can only assume this is where this film lost favor with the critics. The style of this film is gaudy, hectic and downright blurred with chaos at some points. I found this to be a wonderful choice for the film as it compliments the tone of much of the film perfectly. The editing shows great attention to pace as the film dazzles with decadent splendor, taking care with appropriate segues of narration, and drawing out pace as the film's mood takes a dive into desperation. At times the film nearly bludgeons the audience with emotion and it attempts to brainwash you with the novel's famous symbolic images, but this was something I expected, however, as this was the experience I recalled from when I first experienced the novel.
The performances are not without their notability either. The charming yet tortured character of Gatsby could not be portrayed by anyone better than Leonardo Dicaprio. As for Tobey McGuire, he conveys Nick Carraway's self conscious journey amongst the nihilistic American bourgeois in a careful and precise manner. I cannot imagine any two pair of actors playing these parts better than these two.
In the end I believe that anyone who is a fan of the novel will be a fan of this movie. This movie does not suffer from any fundamental film making short comings. If one finds fault with this movie its most likely because they are at a disagreement with some of the director's stylistic choices. Heck, it may upset people to hear hip hop so often interjected into a period piece, but as it cross-fades with many interesting jazz tunes it must be recognized as yet another stylistic choice. I sincerely appreciated the entertainment value as well as the artistic endeavors of this film. It conveyed a unique interpretation of the novel that I found emotionally poignant and thought provoking. The film maybe a gaudy blur, but in the end it accentuated the most memorable images and lines from the original novel and it reminded me why the Great Gatsby is an American classic.