The Great Gatsby

(Baz Luhrmann/2013/Australia & USA) 

Luhrmann brings his recognisable flair to F. Scot Fitzgerald’s tale of heartache and woe in 1920’s New York. The heart of the book is put on screen dressed up in gaudy excess; swinging jazz becomes infused with modern rap and hip hop pop and the crass pre crash opulence is perfect fodder for Luhrmann’s eye for pomp and spectacle. Indeed it’s a good marriage of minds and styles. If you like either or both it should go a ways to keeping you entertained. Leonardo Di Caprio more or less sails through his performance as Jay Gatsby without too much fuss, leaving Toby Maguire to shine as the greenhorn Nick Carraway. But the standouts are Joel Edgerton and Carey Mulligan as the dysfunctional Buchanans whom the plot orbits around.

(2.5/5)