For those who dozed off during their American Lit mods, here`s a Cliff Note`s plot summary for your convenience: It`s the 1920s. Nick Carraway (Tobey Maguire) moves to the fictional village of West Egg on Long Island, reacquainting himself with his cousin Daisy Buchanan (Carey Mulligan) and her husband Tom (Joel Edgerton), who live across the bay in East Egg. He also makes the acquaintance of millionaire neighbor Jay Gatsby(Leonardo Dicaprio), a man whose intentionally enigmatic persona and lavish parties conceal a burning obsession at the core of his being. What follows is a tale of misplaced love and tragic idealism.
The movie begins with Nick in a sanatorium, typing a memoir of his experience with Gatsby. It`s an unnecessary addition to the novel`s original plot, but also a convenient framing device that allows us to experience the richness (some say indulgence) of Fitzgerald`s prose, which abound in Nick`s narration of the events as they unfold, sometimes literally appearing onscreen like drifting snowflakes.
If there`s one thing that can`t be denied about Lurhmann`s talents as a director, it`s his ability to weave visual spectacle into a stunning tapestry. From a succession of extravagant parties to the flickering green light that symbolizes dreams just beyond one`s reach, the novel`s imagery is portrayed in extravagant, poetic excess. The camera swoops and dives in on champagne-drenched debauchery, a city of steel and cable and lights; fireworks burst in the night sky over Gatsby`s sprawling mansion. Luhrmann has surely captured the artifice at the centre of Fitzgerald`s novel, even if he has done away with the biting satirical edge that accompanied it.
Purists may question Baz Luhrmann`s choice of having rapper and record producer Jay-z score the soundtrack, but visual spectacle aside, the unconventional score is one of the greatest strengths of The Great Gatsby. It stands to reason in a warped way; if jazz was the party music of choice during the Roaring 20s, hip hop/dance music best encapsulate the youthful, hedonistic elements of today`s society. Jay-Z`s audacious soundtrack mashes Gershwin with throbbing remixes of Beyonce and Fergie, and the movie`s occasionally excessive spectacle is both more evocative and more relatable for his effort.
Of course, there are several flaws amidst the sparkle. The movie`s second act slackens in pace when the noose around Gatsby should be tightening, and Tobey Maguire`s performance as Nick Carraway is middling at best. Thankfully, Leonardo Dicaprio`s interpretation of the movie`s titular character lends the role a pretense of ease and a tragic, idealistic pathos that`s utterly convincing, emotionally anchoring the movie through its slower second half. Of equal importance is Carey Mulligan`s performance, which vests the narcissistic, shallow Daisy Buchanan with a tragic edge, a necessary evolution of the character, given the tragic romance that Luhrmann has chosen to foreground.
The Great Gatsby is emotionally charged where it should be satirical, both reverent of the novel and intentionally set apart from it. Purists will weep, literature teachers will gnash their teeth; Baz Lurhmann has shown that the only tale he can tell is a love storyâ€