THE GREAT GATSBY 2013

[Ben Chiu]

I've always been a fan of this story and I absolutely love the 1974 version starring Robert Redford and Mia Farrow. (As a side note, I discovered a version made in 1949 starring Alan Ladd, but haven't seen it yet--might be interesting.) However, to be blunt, I was going to turn this latest version somewhere between the 1/4 to 1/3 of it. Now I don't do this very often (I even sat through YOUR MAJESTY, so my tolerance for assaults on the senses and sensibilities is pretty high.), but because I know the story so well, I wanted to see what if the story would ultimately save this latest incarnation.

What drove me to just walk away was a combination of a lot of, in my opinion, inappropriate music style used in a lot of opening scenes, and the numerous long flying shots. Sure, they're cool, but cool for the sake of cool has never gone over well with me.

I wanted to like THE GREAT GATSBY (TGG) a lot, although when I read Leonardo Dicaprio was going to play Jay Gatsby many moons ago, I had my doubts he would pull off what was required for the role. I'll reserve my reasons why for private conversations, but I didn't think the actress who played Daisy got the character right either IMHO. On the flip side, the actor that played Tom got it right (I'll have to look up what else this guy has done). Toby McGuire was a good choice too.

For me, TGG is a reminder that a great story isn't enough for a movie--a great story needs to be told well.