The Great Gatsby – Movie Review

As tedious as the F Scott Fitzgerald novel on which the film is purported to be based, ‘The Great Gatsby’ finds its audience chiefly because of the fascinating presence of Di Caprio histrionics as also due to the portrayal of charmingly pleasing and authentic visuals of an opulent era gone by.

In the post World War I economic resurge, Nick [Toby Maguire] decides to actualize his American Dream and leaves Midwest.

Arriving in New York Nick rents a smallish house in the fictional village of West Egg. His next door neighbour is no other than Jay Gatsby [Leonardo Di Caprio] an opulent millionaire in the habit of throwing lavish parties.

Nick chooses to visit his cousin, the beautiful Daisy [Carey Mulligan] who lives in East Egg along with husband Tom Buchanan [Joe Edgerton], an acquaintance of his from College days.

Here Nick gets introduced to Jordan Baker [Elizabeth Debicki], a sexy golfer.

A sort of romance blooms between Nick and Jordan and Nick gets privy to Tom’s extra-marital flings with Myrtle Wilson [Isla Fisher] , a resident of ‘ Valley of Ashes’.

Soon thereafter Nick lands an invitation to one of Jay’s parties.

Nick finds Jordan there and also gets the scent of Jay’s love for cousin Daisy. Nick arranges a meeting between Daisy and Jay at his place and the sparks between the two surface.

But Tom although himself is in extra marital relationship, he will not, manlike, condone his wife’s swerve from the straight and narrow. And Daisy opts for the security of life with husband Tom.

Tragedy seems to lie in the lurk, first Myrtle loses life at Hay’s car, the Tom decides to shoot Jay and later himself.

Nick disenchanted with the glamorous but shallow life of the place says it quits and return to Midwest, severing connection with the beautiful Jordan.

On the whole, an excess overload of computer generated effects seems to mar The Great Gatsby, specially making the sets lose their naturalness.

To cap it all the 20h century life of lavish splendour and attractive parties clashing with the post economic downturn of our times gets jarring on the viewer.

The Great Gatsby‘s characters too do not rise above the ordinary with the sole exception of Di Caprio while  Daisy’s struggle to subdue her passions makes the film devoid of much of its sparkle, making the film appear too long.

And oh yes, Bollywood legend and megastar Amitabh Bachchan is also in The Great Gatsby, though one wonders why.

Rating: 2 Stars

By Rana Aziz, Foreign  Contributor at His Master’s Review

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