Movie Review: The Great Gatsby

The Great Gatsby is an extravagant movie based on the book by F. Scott Fitzgerald. The movie fallows the life of the mysterious Jay Gatsby and some of the troubles that he faces. The story is told through the perspective of Nick Caraway, Gatsby's neighbor and only friend. The story builds on Gatsby's quest to regain his lost love Daisy, who has married another man. The rekindling of their lost love only complicates things in Gatsby's life and in Daisy's relationship with her husband.

The movie was a grand show, a show that was very spectacular and pleasing to the eye. It featured magnificent party scenes that were very extravagant and exiting. These were parties people only dream of attending. This aspect of the movie really appeals to teens because teens can relate the parties of a lost time to the ragers of today. The movie also incorporates modern flavor in the soundtrack. This twist was very appealing to me because it modernized the movie and created a bit more reliability to the time. This soundtrack however in no way was period correct and really over cast the jazz age that coined the era. The jazz music of the time period was new, hip, and somewhat rebellious, something one would listen to while partying. The way that modern music was incorporated into the movie, created a mirror between modern time and the 20s. The music used, mainly Hip Hop, is rebellious and relevant today with youth, culture, and partying, which was the same case with jazz back in the day.

The actors in the movie played the roles very well, with everyone fitting their characters and staying very relatable to the novel. Gatsby was played very accurately and represented as he should, coming off as the gentleman that the novel made him out to be. The movie however wasn’t quite as magical and mysterious as the book. It almost seemed that the movie was dumbed down for the illiterate audience. The movie did not allow you to create your own ideas behind meaning and think for yourself. It was all very blatant and black and white, a far cry from the novel. The movie went so far as to even print text on the screen of some of the more prominent lines, as if to say, here look this stuff is deep. It had the figurative language and style of the book but lacked the challenge for the audience to participate in the advanced thinking.

The movie seemed very jumbled, stepping out of reality and then a little to close to reality. It had some very fast paced spectacular scenes that cause the quieter scenes to seem to slow and boring. The movie seemed to just drag on, causing me to ask myself if it was going to end soon. It was a movie worth watching but I'm sure it would go over a lot better for someone who hasn’t read the book, and knows how the story will play out.

I would recommend this movie to a friend; this movie is defiantly worth a visit and is a fun movie to watch. The movie as a whole is very artistic and spectacular, which is almost like a party in itself. It is almost unreal at times creating a sense of fantasy during this time period in America. The movie featured modern influence that created a parallel between the 20s and today. That is what I think the movie got right and it makes this movie something that the average teenager could find very enjoyable. The movie is both fun and romantic, but the book is just so much different and I think that because of that the movie just isn't going to be a classic. This movie would be better tailored to someone who hasn’t read the book, because their hopes wouldn't be quite so high. The movie is a spectacular flick and something defiantly worth watching, but don’t expect it to hold up to the novel.