The Great Gatsby (2013)

French title:
“Gatsby the Magnificent”

Directed by: Baz Luhrmann

Written by: Baz Lurhmann, Craig Pearce, F. Scott Fitzgerald

Starring: Leonardo DiCaprio, Tobey Maguire, Carey Mulligan

Running Time: 2 hours, 22 minutes
Rating: PG-13

Pre-Conceived Notions: I had to read The Great Gatsby in high school. I don’t remember much about the book, really. All I remember is the lists of vocabulary words the teacher made us memorize (this is where I learned the word ‘wan,’ a very descriptive word that isn’t used as much as it should be these days) and all of the analytical questions we had to answer about the plot and themes and stuff like that. I think someone gets hit by a car? That’s pretty much all I remember from that book. But in my English teacher’s defense, I read it 18 years ago, so I can’t blame being forced to read it (and therefore blocking everything from my mind as soon as I could) as the whole reason why I don’t remember anything. 

Why I Haven’t Seen This Film: Logistics. Let’s blame logistics on this one. 

2 hours, 22 minutes later…: Baz Lurhmann must love roller coasters, because holy crap is this movie zoomy. Like he can’t just jump cut to anything, he has to have the intricate crane and dolly shots and make us feel like we’re flying through the air, barfing up nachos all over ourselves, all the while screaming, “More! More!” Also, each shot in the movie makes me think about how much I need to clean my apartment because it is so cluttered. But that’s what makes his sensibility so special. It’s the movies, for crying out loud, so each second has to be filled with rich imagery, sound, and movement. And I really love the art deco period, so I doubly enjoyed the visuals. 

As far as the story is concerned, all I can say is, wow. What a story. I might go as far as saying this is the ultimate douleur exquise tale. Jay Gatsby moves heaven and earth for five years just to be with Daisy Buchanan, a girl that he thinks about constantly and can not imagine life without. He could have had anyone, but it was the one person just outside his reach that he was after. It’s a story as old as time itself. It also is a great look into the opulence and decadence of the time period. As I was watching, I was half-expecting some mention of the Great Depression, but it turns out the book itself was written before the Great Depression was a thing. So… yeah.

Final Thoughts: 5/6 slices of pizza. If the movie had lasted a minute longer, I would have had to take two dramamines. But the acting was superb, and my eyes and ears were just lapping up every bit of sensory bombast. I don’t know if that last sentence was English. Just go with it, k?