Movie: The Great Gatsby

The Great Gatsby: a combination of exquisite scenes and one dimensional characters.  It is a beautiful movie deserving of Oscar nominations for cinematography and costume.  The clothing, jewelry and autos offer much to behold.  If only the actors had a stronger script.  Leonardo DiCaprio is a credible Jay Gatsby.  Tobey Maguire plays Nick Carraway and he has more screen time than DiCarpio.  I think we are close to 30 minutes into the movie before we meet Gatsby.  This would not be a problem if Tobey had something to do besides observe and narrate.  There are too many scenes of Toby just observing.  The one dimensional characters are Daisy and Tom Buchannan, played by Carey Mulligan and Joel Edgerton.  Tobey is second cousin to Daisy and lives next door to Gatsby in the equivalent of servants’ quarters.  The Daisy character in the original F. Scott Fitzgerald novel is an idolized persona and is part of the reason none of the previous Gatsby movies worked, not including the lost silent movie version.  In this movie, Daisy is beautiful but without substance.  But the real weak link is Tom.  His performance would be apropos in a silent film but amidst all the spectacle in this movie, it is unfortunate.  Edgerton is at his best in the only traditionally filmed scene: a hotel room with all the major characters present.  The love both Gatsby and Tom have for Daisy is presented with Nick observing.  This is one of the few conventional movie scenes.  For me, there is enough glitter to sustain the movie.  The director, Baz Luhrmann, brings to life the times about which Fitzgerald wrote.  Using Jay-Z’s score works for most of the movie but, for this jazz age tale, not completely.  Most of you know the story: Gatsby lives in a mansion outside NYC and has virtually unlimited funds to throw elaborate parties.  In an earlier life, he met and fell in love with Daisy.  He recreated himself and became rich by being the public face for a Jewish mobster, all of which was done to reconnect with Daisy who during the intervening time had married Tom.  Gatsby befriends Nick to reconnect with Daisy.  The screenplay is jointly written by Luhrmann and Craig Pearce and the anti-Semitism and racism of the times is presented.  But why cast an Indian actor, Amitabh Bachchan, as the Jewish mobster?  It has been years since I read the novel but I think the movie is true to the underlying story, which arguably has some of the same faults.  However, Fitzgerald’s work is closer to a novella while the movie lasts 143 minutes.  With tighter editing, this movie could have been worth all the promotional dollars spent.  Still, it is worth seeing and the viewing should be in a big screen theater with a wall to wall audio system.