Difficult to Rate

Rating: 8/10 (26 July 2013)

Coming into this movie, my impression of DiCaprio's acting ability was trending toward dislike and negativity. His over ambition with his attempt at J. Edgar irked me, so I was excited to see him playing a role as the young Gatsby.
And he did not disappoint.
DiCaprio has a gift when assuming roles that closely match his natural age. The Great Gatsby showcased some of DiCaprio's best skills with his ability to keep the audience glued to the screen despite the high level of conversation and speech.
Having never read the novel, the movie was my introduction to anything Gatsby, and i felt the story did the hype justice, and explained in detail who what where when and why this mysterious lad was indeed GREAT.
The movie is an overarching love story between a young lad ever so hopeful and filled with spirit and life striving for greatness and a madam who married into richness rather than waiting for the young man to prove himself worthy.
Five years pass since the last they spoke, and Gatsby has ventured into war and stumbled into apprenticeship for a millionaire. His acquired knowledge would pave the way for opportunity to build his own millions and amass the power and wealth he had always dreamed of.
His life remained incomplete, having fallen in love years earlier; gatsby thus befriends a cousin of his former love and mingles his way into a rendezvous with his Daisy.
The uniqueness of this movie integrates early 20th century imagery and flamboyance with modern day hip hop as the story unfolds into several love triangles and the decisions that ultimately must be made. Events unfold and the narration by Spider-Man continue to the very end.
Gatsby is initially portrayed as a mysterious yet unique individual, throwing vast parties and engendering various rumors about himself. The movie drips additional information about the character very slowly, and by midway, the attractive mysterious element has faded. Towards the end, the human imperfection nearly obscures the greatness of gatsby, before it is once again polished through a total confession to spider-man. The picture delves very deeply into character development, and takes up the majority of the 2 hour movie.
In short, this is a picture about a lover who returns after 5 years to find his lover married, and tries to woo her into joining his egotistical fantasy. Things pretty much go horribly wrong for the great Gatsby, and by end only has spiderman attending his funeral. For this story to have taken over 2 hours to tell is inexcusable, but there is a reason The Great Gatsby exists acknowledgably in the public consciousness, and therefore is justified in its grandiose tale.
The love story falls short of Titanic or the Notebook, but the imagery and uniqueness offset any negatives to solidify an 8 / 10.