Scott Fitzgerald's tale of the Roaring Twenties.The Great Gatsby is one of the most sold novels of 20th century. But the contemporary music on the soundtrack is jarring and out of place. There is some there, Gershwin's Rhapsody In Blue comes to mind. Perhaps the producers thought that no one would see a film with old music in it. Beneath his self assurance there is a bit of a frightened edge like this is all going to be taken away from him so enjoy while you can. Leonardo DiCaprio does a wonderful job playing the social climbing Gatsby who weaves his own legend as he gives fabled parties on Long Island where the illegal liquor flows freely. Tobey's narration gives us the background of the story and Carraway's character functions as he should. As the book is written in the person of Nick Carraway it was also a good move to have Maguire narrate the story. I have to say that the Australian studio did a marvelous job in recreating New York of the Twenties and the ritzy and glamorous part of Long Island where most of the story takes place. In fact except for DiCaprio and Tobey Maguire as Nick Carraway the whole cast is mostly Australian which is to be expected since most of the production was shot there. Daisy is played by Carey Mulligan and Buchanan is played by Australian player Joel Edgerton. The problem is that she's slightly married to upper class Tom Buchanan. All that will make Jay Gatsby's life complete is the love of Daisy Buchanan whom he courted before his service in World War I. In a tradition of blond Gatsbys, Leonardo DiCaprio steps into the shoes of Alan Ladd and Robert Redford in essaying the part of the social climbing bootlegger from the Roaring Twenties. Only a poor soundtrack filled with contemporary music spoiled this latest version of The Great Gatsby for me.
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