Great Gatsby, The (2013) [Blu-ray]
Drama | Romance

Tagline: ...that's the best thing a girl can be in this world, a beautiful little fool.

The Great Gatsby follows would-be writer Nick Carraway as he leaves the Midwest and comes to New York City in the spring of 1922, an era of loosening morals, glittering jazz, bootleg kings, and sky-rocketing stocks. Chasing his own American Dream, Nick lands next door to a mysterious, party-giving millionaire, Jay Gatsby, and across the bay from his cousin, Daisy, and her philandering, blue-blooded husband, Tom Buchanan. It is thus that Nick is drawn into the captivating world of the super rich, their illusions, loves and deceits. As Nick bears witness, within and without of the world he inhabits, he pens a tale of impossible love, incorruptible dreams and high-octane tragedy, and holds a mirror to our own modern times and struggles.

Storyline: An adaptation of F. Scott Fitzgerald's Long Island-set novel, where Midwesterner Nick Carraway is lured into the lavish world of his neighbor, Jay Gatsby. Soon enough, however, Carraway will see through the cracks of Gatsby's nouveau riche existence, where obsession, madness, and tragedy await. Written by Anonymous

Reviewer's Note: Reviewed by Kenneth Brown on August 20, 2013 -- There's no shortness of irony swirling around Baz Luhrmann's The Great Gatsby, a slick but shallow retelling of F. Scott Fitzgerald's 1925 novel of the same name. From Strictly Ballroom to Romeo + Juliet, Moulin Rouge! to Australia, the famously ritzy, operatic visionary is known for elevating, even celebrating style over substance. Subtlety be damned. And yet his command of rhythm -- visual, musical or narrative -- is often exhilarating, divisive and uneven as each film has been. Here, though, Luhrmann crafts a debilitatingly decadent drama crippled by filmmaking excess... based on a cautionary tale about the dangers of decadence and excess. Fitzgerald's novel is much more, mind you; something that can't be said of Luhrmann and co-writer Craig Pearce's loud, gaudy adaptation, which doesn't offer much of any cause or consequence for ninety grotesque minutes. Until, that is, it finally discovers a part of itself in its dying third act breaths.

Summer, 1922. Veteran and Yale graduate Nick Carraway (Tobey Maguire) moves into a small house on Long Island. There he learns his reclusive neighbor is none other than mysterious millionaire Jay Gatsby (Leonardo DiCaprio), seldom seen entrepreneur who hosts an endless string of lavish parties; headline-making soirées that attract everyone from Hollywood power players to sports stars, businessmen, gangsters and an assortment of other colorful characters. Gatsby, though, takes a particular interest in Nick, stepping out of the shadows of his mansion to ask a single favor of his new neighbor. Nick, you see, is cousin to a wealthy woman named Daisy Buchanan (Carey Mulligan), who lives across the lake with her hot-tempered husband Tom (Joel Edgerton). And Gatsby, as it turns out, has been in love with Daisy for a very long time. But when Gatsby asks Nick to arrange a secret rendezvous for the would-be lovers, it sets off a series of events that involve disastrous decisions and (not so) shocking revelations.

Fitzgerald was no stranger to wealth, prosperity or the social extravagance of the 1920s. And yet his "Gatsby" is as much an indictment of the era and its indulgences as it is a dissection of the manner in which class and culture structures begin -- and continue -- to crumble wherever money, art and celebrity collide. The novel, though largely dismissed in Fitzgerald's lifetime, remains a scathing commentary on the fabled American Dream, which, to this day, continues to make promises that can't possibly be kept. It's an impossible ideal at best, a shared delusion at worst, arguably making Fitzgerald's "Gatsby" as relevant in 2013 as it was in 1925.

So how is it that Luhrmann's Gatsby rings so hollow? How is it that an adaptation arriving in the midst of another boom-crisis-boom-crisis economic cycle has so painfully little to say to a modern audience? Why does The Great Gatsby grin and grimace from start to finish as if its filmmakers didn't understand the point of Fitzgerald's book in the least? Here, Nick and his money-grubbing compatriots are superficial, altogether alienating caricatures. Every last one of them and everyone in between. Gatsby, Daisy, Tom, George (Jason Clarke), Myrtle (Isla Fisher), Jordan (Elizabeth Debicki)... brash, one-dimensional exclamation points whose wide eyes, grand gestures, laughably exaggerated performances and simultaneously stiff period delivery are baffling. Who Framed Roger Rabbit was less cartoony than Gatsby. No hyperbole necessary. And for the love of God, don't try taking a drink every time DiCaprio utters the words "old sport." Unless you're looking for a surefire way to die of alcohol poisoning.

More troubling is Luhrmann and Pearce's hyperactive vision and sledgehammer script, which utterly fail to tie decadence to decay, connect the '20s to the 21st century (the film's modern music is a transparent trick that leads nowhere), or convey the intricacies of a fascinating period in American history rife with opportunity and ruthlessness, opulence and cruelty. The director's Roaring '20s are more rowdy than roaring, and lack texture and truth; his actors proceed as if they've literally been snorting copious amounts of cocaine between takes, and suffer the limitations such feverish intensity and spastic energy bring. Even if you've never cracked a copy of "The Great Gatsby" -- fewer and fewer have -- it's all too obvious there's a lot of noise to the film but nothing that might make it quintessential or meaningful. Or, quite frankly, entertaining at all.


If there's any respite from the dizzying recklessness that dominates the film it's Luhrmann and Pearce's third act, which offers a glimpse into the Gatsby that could have been. When Tom begins to poke and prod Gatsby -- in view of Daisy, Nick and Jordan no less -- Edgerton and DiCaprio step onto the stage of an entirely different movie. One that's still grossly theatrical, but far more compelling. As tables turn, tensions rise and houses of cards tumble, Tom, Gatsby and Daisy become considerably more interesting (despite their prevailing narcissism), while Edgerton, DiCaprio and Mulligan's performances suddenly become considerably more bearable (despite their prevailing hysterics). It's too little, too late, sadly, but the dark turn suits the film better than the flights of frenzy that render the first two acts a waste of Luhrmann's talents and Fitzgerald's subversive novel. Hollywood has yet to do right by "Gatsby." I'm beginning to wonder if it ever will.

Baz, Baz, Baz. I'm a fan, old sport, I am. Moulin Rouge! still gets me every time. Every. Time. But The Great Gatsby is too much flash and way too much fizzle. It isn't a matter of style over substance either. It's a matter of style without substance. The film is too detached from Fitzgerald's novel, too far removed from reality, and too disconnected from the human or historic elements that might offer filmfans a foothold or anchor point. Instead, DiCaprio and company are amped up to the point of irritation, the script is cranked up to deafening levels, and the splashy visuals and blaring music undermine everything pulsing beneath the surface. Which, I gotta say, isn't very much. The same can't be said of Warner's Blu-ray release, though. With an excellent video transfer, convincing 3D experience, enthralling DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 surround track and a decent selection of behind-the-scenes bonus content, The Great Gatsby excels in high definition and 3D. It's just a shame the film only excels in excess. I was hoping for so much more.

[CSW] -3.3- I found Leonardo's performance to be excellent, I truly believe that he managed to capture the subtle moments in Gatsby's personality perfectly. I did think the "old sport" got a bit old but it was in the book so it had to be there. The beginning of this movie is so over the top with costumes and parties that I actually began to wonder when the story was going to start, but once it takes off it is good, not great though. I did not get the strong "old money" feeling that I should have gotten from Daisy but I think that was a lot harder to portray without supporting dialogue. The book could express what she was thinking where the movie could not. The Great Gatsby is in the truest Greek sense a great tragedy and this movie comes close to capturing its essence. But although costumes, parties and music were beautiful the movie itself was problematic in the glaring light of a great classic novel.
[V4.5-A4.5] MPEG-4 AVC - No D-Box.


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