This is Australian director Baz Luhrman’s dazzling take on the iconic F Scott Fitzgerald story The Great Gatsby. It is a glittering spectacle, but after Luhrman’s hits like Moulin Rouge, would you expect anything less?!
Tobey McGuire is the innocent writer Nick Carraway who leaves the midwest for New York and rents the house next door to the extravagant party-throwing millionaire Jay Gatsby (perfectly cast Leonardo deCaprio). It is across the bay from his cousin Daisy (Carey Mulligan) and her philandering husband Tom Buchanan (Australian Joel Edgerton in fine form).
Nick visits Daisy and Tom and catches the eye of Jordan Baker (Elizabeth Debicki). After sharing a drunken evening with Tom and his mistress Myrtle (Australian Isla Fisher), he gets invited to one of Gatsby’s extravagant parties amongst various celebrities, politicians and socialites. Nick is thrust into the extravagant world of flamboyant millionaires so he decides to write a tale of the hopeless love, never-lasting dreams and extreme tragedy that results from it. We can see that this is not that much different to the times and struggles experienced today.
Gatsby and Nick instantly become friends and Jay asks Nick to put in a good word for him to Daisy. It seems there is a past between Gatsby and Daisy and Nick is happy to oblige, despite not realising the tragedy that inevitably arises from this.
The flamboyance of gorgeous Jay Gatsby will blow people away with his magnificent parties, as will Baz Luhrman’s stylish excess. The music is an outstanding addition, thanks to Jay Z’s brilliant soundtrack. As fabulous as it all is though, the frequent theatre-goer will see, that despite Gatsby seeming to have everything, he actually had nothing because he had no one to share it with. It really makes you think…
No one else could of played Gatsby and Daisy BUT Leonardo deCaprio and Carey Mulligan. Australian audience will enjoy seeing so many of our local stars, including Fisher, the legendary Jack Thompson as Nick’s psychiatrist who encourages him to write it all down, and Vince Colossimo as Michaelis. It is encouraging to see Aussie talents as they further their names in Hollywood. We always enjoy a blockbuster more if Australia has some connection with it and you can’t get any bigger a connection than this!
Kirstey Whicker
Rating: 3.5/5 Stars
You will like this if you enjoyed:
- Flight 2012 Denzel Washington
- Rain Man 1988 Dustin Hoffman, Tom Cruise
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