“The Great Gatsby” or what I would have called it, “The
Could-have-been Great(er) Gatsby” was just a movie flop. Like what all people
say about book based movies, “Don’t read the book and get your hopes up for the
movie” is one thing I would say is the truth for this modern remake. It was an
over-hyped movie that just ruins the thought of the book. Of the many things
flawed, I feel as if the most apparent were the acting, emotions-filled scenes,
and most of all the chosen cast, but movie critic Matt Zoller Seitz attempts to
salvage the waste of a movie as most other people see it as.
To
begin with, the cast that director Baz Luhrmann chose was terrible to begin
with. Choosing Leonardo DiCaprio was originally an excellent choice in my
opinion, but throughout the film he did nothing but disappoint. Seitz likes to
argue otherwise saying that DiCaprio created the most simple of all effects
using his body language and voice, but I say that there was actually a lack of
emotion and feel. DiCaprio’s accent continuously dropped in and out while
saying the catch phrase “Old sport” enough times where it’s countable on one
hand.
Seitz
states that Joel Edgerton fits the book’s description of a hulking man. In
reality, that is a true overstatement. From reading, I imagined a massive 6’2”
220 lb man of just pure roid-raging muscle. Edgerton was just not up to par.
Although he is 5’11 and in the movie “Warrior”, he just didn’t have that
aggressive face and attitude of himself to create a character that would be
instantly seen as THE Tom Buchanan, a man in his mid thirties who is just
stuffed full of old money.
Although both the actors for Tom
and Gatsby were a disappointment, Tobey Maguire exceeded expectations as the
role of Nick, again, an opposing view of critic Seitz who states that Maguire
is just a wry blank-slate actor. Maguire, although older than what I imagined,
brought out the full character of Nick Carraway, a man attempting to start a
new in New York City. The city full of life where the past is the past and anything
can happen in the future.
Next
on the list is the cinematography. Something that could have been so simple
filled with raw emotions that would flood the ideals of the viewers. Many
scenes throughout the movie could not match up with my expectations in the
book. Seitz describes the cinematic as a dazzling front half and a darker
second. I feel the movie as a whole lacked the emotions that each scene had the
potential to show. Seitz describes the second half as dark and shows emphasis
on the actors in each room. This opinion is complete bologna. The intimacy and
confusion that could have occurred in the scene when Gatsby finally once again
meets Daisy in Nick’s living room were all thrown out the window to shave a few
seconds off of the recording time. That scene didn’t start with an awkward air,
move onto a state of confusion, and burst into the sudden realization of love
that it should have. It was just pure awkwardness into even more awkwardness
but with some type of “love” and then just awkward. All awkward.
The
Great Gatsby was a complete failure of what it could have been. With the money
and CGI effects, it could have become an instant modern classic; something
Oscar worthy for Leo.
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