THE GREAT GATSBY

2013 / Director. Baz Luhrmann.

You know that little bit of skin that annoys you right beside your finger nail? And you know when you pick at it or bite it and the damn thing tears away leaving a thin strip of stinging red flesh? It fucking hurts, right? Well I did that last week and you know what? I enjoyed that experience much more than watching THE GREAT GATSBY. Oh my God, what a tedious film. From the outset it's only fair that I admit to disliking the story in general. I haven't read the book nor do I wish to but I have seen most of the previous adaptations and I hate them all. It's such an uninteresting story and I fail to see its appeal. And so with that said I shouldn't criticise Baz Luhrmann for lacking substance in this film. There was barely little substance to begin with. I can, however, criticise his decision to adapt it in the first place. I do admire his visceral flare and think that he has brilliantly crafted a unique style all of his own. His films are unmistakable and in that sense he is most certainly an auteur. With THE GREAT GATSBY he has taken a safe option and that's possibly due to the disasterous performance of his pervious movie Australia. Perhaps he was a little rattled by that. In this new film he revisits Moulin Rouge with glitzy party sequences, modern pop music and a heightened reality. Its a feast for the eyes but that's where the appeal ends. None of the cast are outstanding and both Leonardo DiCaprio and Toby Maguire practically phone their performances in. What a huge contrast to DiCaprio's incredibly turn in Django Unchained. So yeah... no use me going on about it. THE GREAT GATSBY is a bloated, overlong and excessive exercise in style over substance. Hated it!

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