The Great Gatsby is a 2013 period romantic drama film starring Tobey Maguire, Leonardo DiCaprio, Carey Mulligan and Joel Edgerton following the transition of an aspiring writer into a world of wealth, illusions and deceits.
There's something dispiriting about a filmmaker who does his best to be utterly faithful to the words on the page, but doesn't seem to recognize what those words mean.
It's not one spectacularly bad decision that sinks "The Great Gatsby," but a series of mediocre ones, leaving us with a film as forgettable as it is unnecessary.
There are no two ways about it: The Great Gatsby is misconceived and misjudged, a crude burlesque on what's probably American literature's most precious jewel.
It's a headache-inducing mishmash of waving curtains, hyperactive fades, aggressive zooms, and Baz basically just throwing things at the lens (confetti, champagne, fabric, Tobey Maguire).
