"The Great Gatsby" - directed by Baz Luhrmann
I wasn't overly fussed on seeing this film and the reason can be explained with two words.
'Christmas Cake'.
Or, if you prefer - 'Baz Luhrmann'.
You see despite the fact that the cast includes Leonardo DiCaprio and Carey Mulligan both of whom I am a huge fan of there is no ignoring that this is a film from the director of a string of movies that have left me cold.
And that is how I feel about Christmas Cake.
I want to like it but every year when it is wheeled out as much as I pine for the moist cakey centre with it's rich, tasty bounty of booze soaked fruit I also have to contend with the fact that it is all wrapped in sickly sweet marzipan and icing.
I detest that stuff and remove the thick, white disgusting outer layer the instant the cake is put on my plate.
And I am left with a considerably smaller end result.
It's good - just unsubstantial.
And so we come to "The Great Gatsby".
Considered to be one of the truly great American novels we have already had a high profile 1974 Robert Redford / Mia Farrow film version.
Who better then than a man perhaps his generations Redford equivalent to take the lead in a new version?
Leonardo DiCaprio is a fine choice and likewise I can think of no finer choice for the lead female role Daisy than the effortlessly charming and pixie-like Carey Mulligan.
Both actors seem born to play their respective roles.
DiCaprio comes with a real life playboy persona. He is frequently snapped by prowling paparazzi cavorting with supermodels on yachts.
His life is not a million miles from that of Jay Gatsby.
Mulligan is an immense talent having never turned in a weak performance. She chooses roles wisely and seems destined for an Oscar.
Rounding out the cast is DiCaprio's real life best friend Tobey Maguire and a host of Aussie actors including Joel Edgerton, Isla Fisher and Jason Clarke.
So far so good then.
It is a good cast for what is in essence a love story.
Set in 1922 New York before the great depression hit "The Great Gatsby" is lush and vibrant with stunningly beautiful production design.
The camera swoops down skyscrapers in vertigo inducing 3D and everything seems awash in colour.
A couple of party scenes come off like Busby Berkeley mixed with Showgirls.
Elaborately staged, these scenes use hundreds of extras and layer upon layer of set elements.
This is a truly spectacular looking movie.
And that is not always in the service of the story.
Anyone familiar with the novel will know that this is far from a sweetness and light love story.
The excesses in production design and staging are somewhat at odds with the tale being told.
Like my beloved Christmas fruit cake the marzipan threatens to ruin everything.
There is altogether too much flash and not enough restraint.
It results in a movie that is lacking in any emotional weight.
It finds a tone of excess right from the first frame and never rises above or below it.
When things reach a head the accelerator has been to the floor for so long that there is no more juice left to ramp things up.
Even as we watch one major character die in horrible fashion Luhrmann seems more intent on making the death look stylish and dare I say - cool- than on giving the departure any emotional resonance.
For a love story this is pretty much a fatal blow.
Adding to the problems is some poor pacing that leaves the movie bogged down in the first half and feeling rushed in the last.
There is much to like here but I found myself admiring the art rather than getting swept up in the story.
The 3D for instance is very well utilised.
Scorsese explored similar territory better in the masterful "Hugo" but this is still damned good.
In typical Luhrmann fashion the soundtrack takes contemporary songs and makes them fit with the period.
Lana Del Rey is particularly well used and clearly the film makers knew it because her track is utilised several times very effectively.
The end result is still just a bunch of well staged music videos lacking any impact beyond the immediacy of the very pretty visuals.
Even the performances are exaggerated and whatever good work that the leads put in is compromised by the unsubtle fashion is which the whole thing is staged.
As someone who has been unimpressed at best with the directors previous work I put the blame fairly on Luhrmann's shoulders.
He simply cannot operate with any level of subtlety and this movie requires a balance that he doesn't deliver.
Imagine if Scorsese or Coppola or Cronenberg had directed this film.
That is a film that I would want to see.
Any of those great directors could deliver the lush opulence without sacrificing the emotional pull that such a story should exert.
Despite the efforts of a great cast and a highly skilled bunch of technicians and designers ultimately the whole project is highjacked by the lack of restraint and one note delivery of a director completely wrong for the job.
Pretty to look at but this one will have faded from your memory by the time you get back to the car.
Its appeal is buried so deep under a layer of excess as to be barely noticeable.
'Christmas Cake'.
Or, if you prefer - 'Baz Luhrmann'.
You see despite the fact that the cast includes Leonardo DiCaprio and Carey Mulligan both of whom I am a huge fan of there is no ignoring that this is a film from the director of a string of movies that have left me cold.
And that is how I feel about Christmas Cake.
I want to like it but every year when it is wheeled out as much as I pine for the moist cakey centre with it's rich, tasty bounty of booze soaked fruit I also have to contend with the fact that it is all wrapped in sickly sweet marzipan and icing.
I detest that stuff and remove the thick, white disgusting outer layer the instant the cake is put on my plate.
And I am left with a considerably smaller end result.
It's good - just unsubstantial.
And so we come to "The Great Gatsby".
Considered to be one of the truly great American novels we have already had a high profile 1974 Robert Redford / Mia Farrow film version.
Who better then than a man perhaps his generations Redford equivalent to take the lead in a new version?
Both actors seem born to play their respective roles.
DiCaprio comes with a real life playboy persona. He is frequently snapped by prowling paparazzi cavorting with supermodels on yachts.
His life is not a million miles from that of Jay Gatsby.
Mulligan is an immense talent having never turned in a weak performance. She chooses roles wisely and seems destined for an Oscar.
Rounding out the cast is DiCaprio's real life best friend Tobey Maguire and a host of Aussie actors including Joel Edgerton, Isla Fisher and Jason Clarke.
It is a good cast for what is in essence a love story.
Set in 1922 New York before the great depression hit "The Great Gatsby" is lush and vibrant with stunningly beautiful production design.
The camera swoops down skyscrapers in vertigo inducing 3D and everything seems awash in colour.
A couple of party scenes come off like Busby Berkeley mixed with Showgirls.
Elaborately staged, these scenes use hundreds of extras and layer upon layer of set elements.
This is a truly spectacular looking movie.
And that is not always in the service of the story.
Anyone familiar with the novel will know that this is far from a sweetness and light love story.
The excesses in production design and staging are somewhat at odds with the tale being told.
Like my beloved Christmas fruit cake the marzipan threatens to ruin everything.
There is altogether too much flash and not enough restraint.
It finds a tone of excess right from the first frame and never rises above or below it.
Even as we watch one major character die in horrible fashion Luhrmann seems more intent on making the death look stylish and dare I say - cool- than on giving the departure any emotional resonance.
For a love story this is pretty much a fatal blow.
Adding to the problems is some poor pacing that leaves the movie bogged down in the first half and feeling rushed in the last.
 |
| The lovely Elizabeth Debicki |
The 3D for instance is very well utilised.
Scorsese explored similar territory better in the masterful "Hugo" but this is still damned good.
In typical Luhrmann fashion the soundtrack takes contemporary songs and makes them fit with the period.
Lana Del Rey is particularly well used and clearly the film makers knew it because her track is utilised several times very effectively.
The end result is still just a bunch of well staged music videos lacking any impact beyond the immediacy of the very pretty visuals.
Even the performances are exaggerated and whatever good work that the leads put in is compromised by the unsubtle fashion is which the whole thing is staged.
As someone who has been unimpressed at best with the directors previous work I put the blame fairly on Luhrmann's shoulders.
He simply cannot operate with any level of subtlety and this movie requires a balance that he doesn't deliver.
Imagine if Scorsese or Coppola or Cronenberg had directed this film.
That is a film that I would want to see.
Any of those great directors could deliver the lush opulence without sacrificing the emotional pull that such a story should exert.
 |
| Carey Mulligan |
Pretty to look at but this one will have faded from your memory by the time you get back to the car.
Its appeal is buried so deep under a layer of excess as to be barely noticeable.
| Rated | M for mild sex and violence |
| Running Time: | 142 minutes (2hrs, 10mins without end credits) |
| Starring: |
| Leonardo DiCaprio | --- Jay Gatsby |
| Carey Mulligan | --- Daisy Buchanan |
| Tobey Maguire | --- Nick Carraway |
| Joel Edgerton | --- Tom Buchanan |
| Isla Fisher | --- Myrtle Wilson |
| Jason Clarke | --- George Wilson |
| Vince Colosimo | --- Michaelis |
| Steve Bisley | --- Dan Cody |
| Max Cullen | --- Owl Eyes |
| Elizabeth Debicki | --- Jordan Baker |
| Amitabh Bachchan | --- Meyer Wolfsheim |
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