The Great Gatsby Review: Mainstream Gatsby

My pulse quickened as the projector flashed that alluring green light a crossed the screen, drawing me in like a moth to a flame. I, of course, had to ignore the overused opening in which the protagonist looks back on the source of their troubles then tries to rationalize it under the watchful eye of a psychiatrist. A small complaint, one I could ignore especially when story unfolded as beautifully as it did. 

It was a slow rise to disappointment, with scenery as fanciful as anything Fitzgerald’s mind could possibly imagine, and a cast that could carry any half-baked movie to a summer blockbuster, this movie was destined for success. Until the bass dropped, literally.  Tom and Myrtles party was no black and white affair but the sheer insanity that the movie portrayed it to be reminded me of a Van Wilder frat party, not an event hosted by one of society’s upper crust. Pillows burst, filling the room with feather confetti as Dub step blared in the background. 

          My patience was waning but I was no fan of Tom and Myrtles cheap attempts at a “party” anyway. Now Gatsby’s parties would certainly be filled with magic, with Concert Jazz bands filling the queue while the guests gossiped about their generous patron! But Modernization must steal this realization too, what fun is a party flowing to the music of our grandparents when Gatsby would be so much more suave listening to Jay-Z’s twisted idea of the classics, being his music at a slower pace. Then to add to the murder of mystery, have Gatsby announce his name as fireworks erupt all around him.
            Aside from all these atrocities Baz Luhrman spoon feed the audience each bite of symbolism. Instead of interpreting the omnipotent eyes of T.J Eckleburg as a forgotten God, Myrtles face is literally shoved into the window as Wilson proclaims “God sees all” after Nick narrates a similar idea in his account of the events. While it is understandable that it is harder for certain themes to come across in a two hour movie, it is enjoyable to have something for discussion afterwards instead of being told exactly what each minor occurrence means.

Other parts seemed so close to being as wonderful as the novel portrayed but feel short, an example being Gatsby’s tragic end. Jay Gatsby is going for a swim on a crisp autumn morning to unwind after a stressful night induced by the previous incidents. The manically depressed Wilson is seen making his approach at the same time as Daisy reaches for her phone. The suspense builds. The phone rings, the butler turns away to answer and Gatsby rises from the water. The shot goes off and the phone drops revealing a shocked Nick on the other line instead of the expected Daisy. Then as Gatsby falls back towards death he looks forward and sees the green light floating just within reach. For this optimist it is the perfect end, but why not reinforce what is clearly going through his mind by uttering Daisy with his dying breath, making the scene an unbearably overdone way for a love interest to perish.

And yet through all of it I trudged on, feeding off the scenery and plotline in place of my missing popcorn. Once again though my hopes were raised! As Nick recounts his final memories of the tragic events the famous lines float across the screen with the green light as a back drop, “So we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past.” Utter perfection, these lines refilled my cup and I toasted to the genius that was F. Scott Fitzgerald, but wait I almost forgot that this was all a strange monologue from inside a mental ward. So instead of ending on that solid note from Fitzgerald that even Hollywood couldn’t maim, it returned to Nick as he prints the final page of his novel “Gatsby”, at which point I leaned over to the person next to me and prophesized the clumsy ending. As I had foreshadowed Nick returns soon after to pencil in “The Great” over his title.

            All in all it is safe to say that I was not impressed, giving the work as a whole a 7.5 out of 10. From the misguided attempt to bring the story to a new generation, to the force feed spoonful of symbolism, it was completely hit or miss. The only redeeming factor for myself was the effort that was obviously put into the casting, and how perfectly Leonardo DiCaprio captured the role of The Great Gatsby. Unfortunately I foresee this movie breeding a new crowd of Gatsby enthusiasts who will never truly see the work as it should be, and will accept this mediocre work instead of the true masterpiece it is representing.   But perhaps it was all thanks to my expectations going in, maybe a movie can never truly live up to the true Great Gatsby.