The Great Gatsby

As is true in most cases, I feel that the book was better than the movie. I understand how nearly impossible it must have been to try to capture Fitzgerald's unique style of writing on screen, but the director went over the top -- too much light, too much color, too loud and too fast and too hectic to properly portray the feel of the book. Fitzgerald wrote most of the story in a slower, more laid-back way. The director did a decent job of capturing Nick's quiet, easy-going personality, but the movie failed to show how his calm nature affected the people around him. In the book, many of the group conversations, especially at the beginning, were less strained than the movie made them seem.

I did feel that the director did a great job towards the end of the film, though, when Gatsby's fantasy world was finally collapsing and he was beginning to unravel. It was made clear to the audience that something big had to happen soon in order to release the building pressure. I thought the actors were very good too -- especially Leonardo DiCaprio as Gatsby. He was excellent at showing how Gatsby was trying and failing to keep it together while the life he had built fell through his fingers.

I loved the opening of the movie, when the audience was introduced to the scene by an old, 1920's style black and white design that stretched forward until it centered on the symbolic green light Gatsby was reaching toward. I was also impressed by the amount of word-for-word dialogue taken straight from the book. The movie did a nice job with Nick's voice-overs, which didn't distract from the story (a problem many other movies have) but rather added to it just enough to help the audience understand what was going on.

The music in the film was also interesting. I liked the director's use of current music remade into the style of the 20's for most of the scenes, but it distracted me from the story in others. The dubstep while everyone got drunk was effective, as was the 20's version of Lana Del Ray's song playing during the movie's first view of one of Gatsby's parties. There were other scenes throughout the move that, in my opinion, would have been better with different music.