Prose flows: Gatsby's over the top, but book shines through

By RICHARD ROEPER

Given the wretched and sometimes wonderful excesses of Baz Luhrmann's Romeo and Juliet and Moulin Rouge, not to mention a trailer that gave the impression Luhrmann's interpretation of The Great Gatsby would be one extended anachronistic music video, it turns out Luhrmann's Gatsby is first and foremost F. Scott Fitzgerald's Gatsby.   

Fitzgerald's heartbreakingly poetic prose wins out. Sometimes his work is literally right there on the screen– deceptively simple strings of a dozen words or so, as powerful and relevant now as they were nearly a century ago.    

 

 

This is not to say the 2013 version of The Great Gatsby isn't a cinematic hot mess most of the time. It's big and bold and brassy, filmed in crisp tones dominated by blues and reds (and, of course, a certain green light), and it fills every second of its 142-minute running time with images designed to take your breath away, whether you're marveling at the overhead shots of Manhattan circa 1922 or appreciating the old-fashioned movie star charisma of Leonardo DiCaprio in his prime. (You want him to wear a pink suit and drive a yellow car? OK, he'll wear a pink suit and drive a yellow car, and he'll own it.) Full Review.

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