Extravagant, exuberant, and excessive essentially describes the so called Jazz era depicted in F. Scott Fitzgerald’s THE GREAT GATSBY. It pretty much sums up F.Stop Luhrmann’s depiction of the celebrated story.
And who would be surprised if the Great Bazby delivered some drab drama without his trademark bazamatazz?
No surprises he and constant collaborators, screenwriter Craig Pearce and designer Catherine Martin, have fashioned a flamboyant film full of flappers, flim flam, and film glam, although it fades fatally in the final furlong, its fabulous prelude at odds with its doldrums dénouement.
Leonardo DiCaprio literally plays the Great Jay as a golden haired boy, a sartorial splendid store-front mannequin as marquee star resplendent in spats and suspenders and haute couture in hues of pink.
Toby Maguire as Nick Carraway, Carey Mulligan as Daisy and Joel Edgerton as her born to rule bully husband, Tom Buchanan give fine supporting work. Would loved to have seen more of Isla Fisher as Myrtle Wilson and Jason Clark as her cuckold and ditto for Elizabeth Debicki who took the biscuit as Jordan Baker but given short shrift by the film makers thus short changing Fitzgerald and the audience.
The use of voice over narration is burdensome and so is the choice of palimpsest of text superimposed on the screen.
The decision to shoot in 3D seems to illustrate and emphasise that the true star of the show is its design, both sets and costumes. It is what is truly great about this Gatsby.
One might muse that a full musical treatment might have served this movie better because it works best when it is in full operatic, high camp sweep.
Camera and characters are choreographed rather than moved and the music, both iconic of its era and anarchically anachronistic, serves as simplistic counterpoint rather than synchromesh; distracting, disjointed and discordant rather than synthesis. Gatsby’s glorious, glitzy and glamorous gay time parties play swell and further tease at what might have been had Baz taken the bull by the balls and given it the full Busby Berkley.
Still, there is no denying THE GREAT GATSBY is entertaining for most of its unsustainable two hours twenty minutes, eye candy to rot the retina.