When Jay Gatsby gazed at the green light at the end of Daisy Buchanan’s dock, he was filled with a misguided sense of hope and excitement for the future. I have been a bit like Gatsby since I found out that my favorite novel was being adapted into a movie: I fantasized about a movie that would be simply perfect.
Like Gatsby, I was disappointed.
“The Great Gatsby” film was probably as true to its written counterpart as possible; however, this medium of storytelling simply could not do the tale justice.
While it is unrealistic to expect the film to perfectly embody each of the novel’s intricate themes, one can expect it to send viewers back to this era. Several modern twists prevented generally realistic visuals from recreating Fitzgerald’s world.
The film’s cast generally portrayed the characters very well. Leonardo DiCaprio was a stellar Gatsby; Tobey Maguire played the role of Nick Carraway, a passive observer, very well; and Carey Mulligan brought Daisy Buchanan to life.
This carefully selected cast and the relatively realistic costumes and scenes created an atmosphere that embodied the Roaring Twenties.
That atmosphere was utterly destroyed every time a song by Jay-Z, will.i.am, or Beyonce played. Watching Nick explore one of Gatsby’s gaudy parties with a heavy bass sound in the background is simply laughable; jazz music of the era would have been much more appropriate.
The movie occasionally strayed from the novel’s plot, most notably when Nick narrates his experience with Gatsby from a mental hospital. Overall, these changes do not detract from the story; however, they create another unnecessary distraction that detracts from the classic tale.
“The Great Gatsby” held the promise of a familiar green light. Appropriately enough, this film’s perceived greatness proved to be an illusion compared to the dark, disappointing reality.
By: Katie Weber