No one seems to be able to agree on anything about The Great Gatsby. The movie, that is. The book incites all sorts of debate every time some English major finds an excuse to bring it up, but the movie is the first one of this year where people are scrambling to find a way to talk about that makes them sound like they’ve got it figured out.
I’m probably going to sound like I’m doing the same thing, but I’m going to proceed optimistically anyhow. I think this movie is the best thing to come out this year so far. At the time of writing this, I’ve only seen it once, so subsequent viewings could confirm or refute this opinion. I also read the book something like ten years ago, the same as most people from the sounds of it. I’m a fan of Baz Luhrmann’s Red Curtain Trilogy but wasn’t all that into Australia. I thought every single Gatsby trailer was absolutely gorgeous but had no idea how the images they presented could sustain an entire film. I was skeptical for the first hour of the actual movie, but I soon oriented myself and was convinced by the end that it had nailed this material. There are all my cards.
So I’ve spent a lot of my time since seeing the movie poring over pages of reviews, positive and negative, trying to figure out what people were seeing. Evidently, people are as torn over the movie as many were over the book when it initially came out. Maybe in 30 years we’ll see more impassioned defenses of Luhrmann’s movie, but it would be nice to see more now.
There are 5 things main reviewers seem to be objecting to or generally highlighting in The Great Gatsby. Here’s why I think they’re missing some of the point.
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