AA
enthusiast
Posts: 864
Loc: Allen, TX
Reg: 07-20-09
|
05-08-13 02:58 PM - Post#160849
I went into this movie not ever reading the book or seeing the original movie, and I believe that this may have been to my advantage. I could not compare to anything and had an open mind on the movie itself and not focused on the fact that they were trying to rewrite a classic like many other people have been commenting on. And with this mind set, I left the theater completely satisfied and impressed. I will not comment on the story itself since obviously it is a good story, hence the remake. But the acting and cinematography were outstanding and really made the movie. The art design of living in the 20’s in booming New York City was not only amazing, but also captivating. I have always had an interested in that era, so maybe I am being biased, but I feel that they hit it dead on with the details and lifestyle portrayal. The party scenes at Gatsby’s house were a lot to take in and sometimes over the top, but it later explained in the movie that there was a hidden motive behind these extravagant parties. The acting was also brilliant. Of course I expected it from Leo (Jay Gatsby), but I was shocked and impressed on the character of Tobey Maguire (Nick Carraway). I usually don’t like his acting but thought he handled this more difficult and supporting role very well. And a big job well done to Carey Mulligan (Daisy Buchanan), who I only knew from "Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps", and Joel Edgerton (Tom Buchanan) who I have never heard of. I sense there may be an Oscar nomination in there for at least 1 of these 4 actors.
I had a few complaints though. Number one, which is always a biggie for me, was the soundtrack. Every other song was a Jay-Z song. And not just a Jay-Z song made specifically for this movie… just a regular new-ish Jay-Z song. How this was supposed to fit in with scenes in the 1920’s is beyond me. Now, I did hear a couple songs that were from that era and just redone by a current artist, or a current artist doing a current song but remade with a 20’s jitterbug/jive/swing sound to it, and I thought that was genius. If the whole soundtrack were similar to the big band cover of Beyonce’s “Crazy In Love” that they put in the movie, then this soundtrack would have been a smash. But instead, they only made a couple of those and threw in Jay-Z’s hip hop hit “H To The Izzo” for filler. Another thing that bothered me, was the far over-used Gatsby catch phrase “Old Sport”. I understand that this was probably just from the character in the book, but feel they used it far too much to where it just got irritating. We got the point in the first hour that he like to use that phrase, there was really no need to use it half a dozen times in one scene even during the second hour.
Even though this movie was 2-1/2 hours long, I really didn’t find myself bored, to which I highly expected being a more artsy film than I usually enjoy. But I could also see how this movie may be boring for others since there was a lot of dialogue and filler scenes. But in the end, I feel the producers did very well at keeping the story moving at a reasonable pace and kept you intrigued with the mysterious character of Gatsby. Although we saw it in 3D, I would not say that it really added much to the enjoyment, but either way I would still recommend a trip to the theaters to see The Great Gatsby.
This movie comes out this Friday 05/10/13
|
