Yes, movies should be bigger than life, but they should still retain natural elements and not go overboard with exaggerated presentations. This idea is exemplified in the 2013 movie release of the 1925 novel The Great Gatsby. The movie displays nearly surreal worlds with somewhat magical, happy and intense moments -- Jay Gatsby’s parties, scenes from a drunk’s perspective, chaos in Catherine’s house and fast car rides. However, most of what was shown outside of these scenes is not “real” enough to make an impact on the audience. Also, natural interactions between the actor and environment are not evident throughout most parts of the movie, making it seem as if the actors are not fully in tune with what they are working with.

There is a disconnect between actor and action. For example, the hats of Gatsby and Nick’s are sitting calmly on their heads when, in reality, they are typically blown away by the large gusts of wind blasting them as Gatsby’s car sped across the bridge. Both men could have prevented their hats from getting lost by holding them down with a hand. Even their bodies fail to display how hard they were thrown against the side of the speeding car such as not swaying and making shaky impacts when a sharp corner was turned, or having the actors instinctively grab onto something nearby for dear life. The actors’ reactions to these physically challenging moments were too smooth and steady as if they were sitting in a diner, not making instinctive noises nor having their vocals shake according to what irregular movements that affected them from the environment in reaction to it. Of course, in rides of speed, fabrics would flap, hats would fly off to the wind, and people would almost immediately make a desperate grab and, perhaps, scream for safety if they felt their bodies almost flying off what they were riding in. As such, if these natural movements were applied to the actors and the environment, it would make the impact of the ride appear more thrilling, powerful, fast, even dangerous to the viewer. Subsequently, their acting abilities during those scenes were horribly incompatible with what they were supposed to feel in that moment because the cast and the environment are work to as one to be able to convey emotions and allow the audience to have a connection to those scenes.

In a nutshell, the 2013 Great Gatsby movie is heading toward science fiction. Indeed, the scenes have an otherworldly feel. The actors and their environments are in discord. Unfortunately, these hand-picked, award-winning actors presented “scripted” and programmed roles. These top-notch actors left behind their natural instincts and delivered robotic performances.