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The Great Gatsby, Movie

The Great Gatsby 2012

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Baz Luhrmann (Moulin Rouge!) adapts F. Scott Fitzgerald’s romantic masterpiece set in New York in the spring of 1922 - an era of loosening morals, glittering jazz and bootleg kings. Stars Leonardo DiCaprio, Carey Mulligan, Tobey Maguire, Isla Fisher and Joel Edgerton. More

Would-be writer Nick Carraway (Maguire) leaves the Midwest for New York, chasing his own American Dream. He lands next door to mysterious, party-giving millionaire Jay Gatsby (DiCaprio), and across the bay from his cousin Daisy (Mulligan) and her philandering, blue-blooded husband Tom (Edgerton). Nick is drawn into the captivating world of the super-rich and, from within, pens a tale of love, ambition and tragedy. Hide

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157 votes / 14 comments The Talk

  • 95 %

    Want to See it

    What say you?

    • MovieGirl

      January....! The agony....

    • marilyn

      waiting...to see the bollywood legend in this movie

    • hodstar

      Fn A grade trailer! Sell the sizzle!!!

    • RexH

      Baz Luhrmann knows how to make movies look great, just not so sure about his interpretation of Fitzgerald's book

    • bryce

      every time someone makes a version of "Gatsby" they get the casting so wrong

    • MovieGirl

      They put it back to JUNE...??? Who does that??

    • DFStuckey

      Another mindless action film . . . might be worth a look

    • yep

      strewth it's alf bloody stewart

    • vanessa

      I so wana go and see this movie looks awsome as please come out soon

    • Michael

      Luhrmann shooting in 3D? I'm there.

    • jim boi

      I'm gonna see this in three-Fukin-DDDDDDDD!!! Yeah.

    • Jenny

      At last something to see at the movies that isnt for children or blokes! Give me the glamour and the beautiful cars

    • Jenny

      So why wasnt it out for Mothers Day?

    • The J-dawg

      It's the dankist shiz since toast on pizza and I 10/10 want to see it!!!!!!!!

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Flicks.co.nz Review

Rating:

  • AGREE? DISAGREE?...

  • Kat-Rumbal

    Wow, disagree.Emotions shallow? There was nothing shallow about the hotel scene with Joel and Leo they were both present and you can't...

  • Kat Rumbal

    ..fake the emotions Leo had, his cheeks were quivering with anger. Carey had beautiful vulnerability on screen. It was a privilege to watch

  • Kat Rumbal

    3 actors bare them self's down and work so honestly in a full on scene.

comment / reply
Dominic Corry Flicks Writer

Like an ever-so-slightly more literary Transformers sequel, Baz Luhrman’s The Great Gatsby is a sense-shattering storm of lush imagery, beautiful people and other aesthetic wonders. It’s the modern blockbuster as classic book adaptation. I had a ball watching it, but the impact is fleeting and the emotions shallow. Like Transformers. More

By replacing giant robots and explosions with luxurious mansions, dazzling costumes and immaculate make-up, The Great Gatsby invites an air of superficial respectability that is perhaps reflected in its lead character - a distortion of the American Dream who built up his fortune with ill-gotten gains.

DiCaprio is well-suited (literally!) to the part – he’s finally starting to leave behind the boyishness that has always threatened his believability as a grown-up. As Jay Gatsby, he cuts a fine figure, but the deeply felt obsession at the heart of his character doesn’t totally shine through.

Tobey Maguire acquits himself with dignity as the audience’s somewhat blank proxy and Carey Mulligan oozes sensuality, almost to the point where I was willing to forgive her character’s transgressions. The most impressive performance in the film is given by Aussie Joel Edgerton, wholly convincing as a rich entitled jerk.

But it’s the filmmaking that is the true star here, and while it never stops calling attention to itself, it’s still a wonder to behold - I haven’t felt this drunk on cinematic beauty since Life of Pi. Hide

The People's Reviews

Rating:

4 ratings and 4 reviews

All reviews (4)

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Doesn't hit the mark

Red Flicks Superstar (?)

I felt this always threatened to be a lot better. But repetition, some poxy CGI backdrops, and a lack of subtlety means the dots didn't join up for me. But, it's not all bad - Di Caprio is brilliant, and its as stylish and visually energetic as you'd expect from Luhrmann.

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A Flawed But Otherwise Faithful Adaptation

KeefScorsese A-Lister (?)

Given Baz Luhrmann's zest for cinema spectacle, his gaudy visual sensibilities fit the The Great Gatsby period of excess and decadence. Luhrmann's adaptation follows many that have come before it which kinda limits its appeal. However, like any film adaptations of famous literary works, its the director and the actors that command the audience.

DiCaprio gives it his all as the mysterious Jay Gatsby, a man whose financial gains are merely a product of the time. Gatsby's unbreakable hope to become a part of New York's illustrious high society is fuelled by his love for Daisy Buchanan (played ably by Carey Mulligan). This serves as the backbone to the narrative which features many strands of soap opera-esque narrative cliches of secrets, lies and betrayal.

However, in spite of the strong performances of the cast, in particular Joel Edgerton as the brute Tom Buchanan, Daisy's husband, there is a sense of shallowness and disconnection with the characters. Yes, these characters are far from perfect however they are ultimately tragic figures, which prohibits the movie to appease any expectations, providing an exasperated feel rather offering a grand emotional pay off.

Lurhmann and his co-writer Craig Pearce stick close to the source material. However, there's a sense of something missing which is disappointing. Although a visual spectacle and a 21st Century soundtrack which nicely fits in, The Great Gatsby seems to be a missed opportunity.

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Give it a miss! Lurhmann certainly did.

Weds_Loafers Flicks Superstar (?)

Seeing this movie was a big mistake on our part! How appropriate then to steal this quote from a professional reviewer: "Baz Luhrmann's The Great Gatsby is a failure that should have at least been a magnificent mistake." Sadly, it is not.
I have never read the novel (nor do I want to) and haven't seen the 1974 movie version of this story, but it certainly had its strange side. The movie was contrived on the basis that the narrator was in psychiatric care and had been encouraged to write his story about Gatsby down as some sort of therapy. As he seemed to be the only sane one throughout, it's hard to imagine how he had a breakdown as a result. The characters are not the sort of people you can sympathise with and we didn't think too highly of the casting. Not much to say about the plot as I gather it sticks reasonably closely to the novel -- apart from the breakdown of the narrator referred to above.
There were only 4 of us present - 2 stars from the lads, 3 from Bernadette who has actually read the novel and seen the 1974 version. Verdict - to be avoided.

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Well that was unexpected

Mark-Roulston Flicks Superstar (?)

I can't remember the last time a film took me by surprise quite as much as Baz Luhrmann's lavish, lascivious adaptation of The Great Gatsby. If you've seen the marketing for the film you might think (as I did) that you know what to expect, but beyond all the glitz and spectacle, Luhrmann and his fantastic cast offer a faithful, enveloping and timely take on the greatest novel of the twentieth century.

Luhrmann's unique vision of Gatsby that gets off to such a rocky start that it's tempting to write the film off. This is the film we saw in the trailers, where it feels like the director is retreating back to the past success of Moulin Rouge, tragically taking a treasured classic with him. Snatches of story are doled out amidst the chaos of the decadent backdrop, an attempt to disorient us alongside Nick Carraway (Tobey Maguire) that just doesn't succeed. However just as it reaches insufferable limits, Luhrmann reigns in his most self-indulgent whims and lets F. Scott Fitzgerald take over.

Having a top-notch cast inhabit these iconic roles really brings out the power of the story, and Leonardo DiCaprio and Joel Edgerton in particular shine through Luhrmann's bluster when he lets them, as he thankfully does for the second half of Gatsby. DiCaprio expertly juggles both sides of Jay Gatsby, transforming his enigmatic traits into insecurity and warped ambition, and Edgerton captures the brash entitlement of the vile Tom Buchanan wonderfully.

Luhrmann has never been known for his restraint, yet beyond the difficult opening act he manages to engage through story not style, even saving a stinging indictment of modern excess that hovers just out of reach right until the closing moments. Like the titular character himself, there's much more to Luhrmann's The Great Gatsby below the surface.

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Press Reviews

Empire (UK)

Despite DiCaprio's prize performance, purists will fume, but even as lit-crashing razzle-dazzle entertainment Luhrmann's adaptation is a candelabrum too far. Full review.

Guardian (UK)

An energetic, glittering adaptation of the classic Fitzgerald novel, but sacrifices all of the original's subtlely in the process. Full review.

Hollywood Reporter

The cast is first-rate, the ambiance and story provide a measure of intoxication and, most importantly, the core thematic concerns pertaining to the American dream, self-reinvention and love lost, regained and lost again are tenaciously addressed. Full review.

New York Times

Less a conventional movie adaptation than a splashy, trashy opera, a wayward, lavishly theatrical celebration of the emotional and material extravagance that Fitzgerald surveyed with fascinated ambivalence. Full review.

Time Out New York

The anachronistic pop-music cues, digitally augmented tracking shots and disco-globe-glittery production design don't re-create the headiness of early-20th-century New York so much as invent a billowy fantasy otherworld in the gauzy vein of Twilight. Full review.

Total Film (UK)

Like Gatsby himself, the movie's a handsome attraction whose dizzying/vulgar wealth is unashamedly flaunted to court favour with bright young things. Full review.

Variety (USA)

What Luhrmann grasps even less than previous adapters of the tale is that Fitzgerald was, via his surrogate Carraway, offering an eyewitness account of the decline of the American empire, not an invitation to the ball. Full review.