I would like to begin this review by saying that Baz Luhrmann is one of my all time favourite directors. He has made some brilliant films in his career. One of my Top 10 favourite films of all time is 'Romeo + Juliet'. He has a modern approach to film making which I love. I know it annoys many people but I like it. I'm sure that you can all sense a great big 'but' coming.
But... I do not think this style is appropriate for this story. As I said, I love 'Romeo + Juliet', which is another older story which Baz brought a modern approach to. But with 'The Great Gatsby' he has not been able to bring that magic a second time. I think what lures most film makers to this story are the party scenes. It is a chance for them to spend most of the film's budget on wild and crazy scenes. It is this type of thing that Baz excels at and the party scenes are a visual feast but I don't think he handled the rest of the film too well. As you may know I watched the 1974 version of 'The Great Gatsby' before seeing this new one and I much prefer the older one. That managed to take a more reserved approach to the story and did not make it look all slick and flashy. I also did not like the look of the film. While I give credit to Baz for making the film in Australia despite it being set in America, what it means is that he filmed most of it in studios on green screens. That sort of thing may not bother most people but it bothered me. And your probably thinking I'm being picky because there are lots of films these days that use green screen instead of sets. But to me that is usually in films that are creating world which don't exist. This film is set in the real world and so should be using real sets. I also did not like some liberties that Baz and his script writer Craig Pearce took with the story. The framing device was unnecessary and showing the background of Gatsby was not needed either as he is meant to be a mysterious character.
Despite all the razzle dazzle there are some decent performances here. I think it is a testament to Leonardo DiCaprio that regardless of all the flashiness going on around him he manages to stand out. He is the perfect modern actor to play Gatsby. He brings the right amount of elusiveness and arrogance to the part. Toby Maguire pitches Nick Carraway with just the right level of naiveté. His character is merely an observer in the film so he does not become too involved in the action and Toby plays it enough that he does not overshadow the main story or characters but not too little that you don't know he's there. Carey Mulligan did not make a terribly good Daisy. I think he character needed to be more engaging and interesting. Cary plays her too elusive and so you do not understand why Gatsby fell in love with her. By far and away the best performance is by Joel Edgerton who is brilliant as Tom Buchanan. Joel brings the right amount of anger and nastiness to the character that you are scared of him and afraid for both Daisy and Gatsby.
The best thing Baz could have done was get another director to make the film but only direct the party scenes. His over the top style does not suit the material.
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