The Great Gatsby (2013)

I loved this movie and I also loved the book. They both get a 10/10 from me. If you're from America, it's VERY likely that you were required to read this book in high school. For those who may not be aware, The Great Gatsby is a story that takes place in the mid-1920's about a mysterious rich man and his obsession with his old girlfriend and the rough road commonly taken by those striving for the "American Dream".
People seem to have mixed feelings about this movie. They're pretty much the same feelings most people have about a movie that is based on their favorite book.
Book-to-film adaptations are complicated. You are taking one source material and shaping it into something completely different. A movie is visual medium and a book is more of a mental medium. How you picture something happening in a book is usually very different than what someone else might picture. There's also the time limit most movies have, so cutting out and changing things from the original source material is inevitable.


The biggest thing this movie seems to be taking liberties with is some of the themes of the novel. I think this movie is very faithful to the book and I love how Baz Luhrmann put Fitzgerald's prose into visual form during the party scene at Myrtle Wilson's apartment.
There are some small flaws that I found distracting, like Tobey Maguire casted as Nick Carraway. He did fine and I think he's a really good actor, but all I can see is a well-dressed Peter Parker. I also think it's weird that Carraway is in an asylum for "anger issues" and is assigned to write the Great Gatsby novel. It's basically the same framing device as Moulin Rouge, Luhrmann's other famous film.
The soundtrack can't really seem to make up it's mind either. First it starts with modern day music, which I don't have a problem with, but then it switches to 1920's music remixed to sound modern, then back to modern songs again. Just stick with one! It would have been cool to hear old music remixed to sound modern or if they had remixed modern songs to sound like they were from the 1920's.
Luhrmann also seems to focus too much on the love story than Gatsby and Carraway's friendship or Gatsby's character, what he represents to the story and why he's a timeless character.
So I understand why people don't like this movie, but I love the visual style and I don't mind the changes, because it focuses on the themes and ideas that Luhrmann wanted to focus on. I think they are good themes and ideas to talk about. The great (pun intended) thing about The Great Gatsby novel is that there are many themes and ideas you can take from it and make a full-length movie out of.
I would absolutely recommend this movie to anyone who is a fan of the book and come to your own conclusion whether or not it is a good adaptation. If you haven't read the book, maybe this movie will convince you to give it a chance. It really is a great book and there's a reason why it's an American classic.