Gatsby

I feel like the last book-lover in the country to go and see The Great Gatsby but seriously, it was worth the wait.  I loved it, although I must admit that I'm partial to Baz Luhrmann's work since his version of Romeo & Juliet from 1996 is one of my favorite movies ever.  I really think Gatsby is one of the best screen adaptations I've ever seen.

Although I wasn't crazy about Tobey Maguire as Nick Carraway (he reminded me of someone I went to high school with, but I'm not going to hold that against him), the casting of Carey Mulligan as Daisy was perfect. Leonardo DiCaprio was able to express the gamut of Gatsby's emotions right to the end. And even though I knew what was coming, I held my breath during the climax and let myself look deep into Gatsby's eyes as the camera closed in on his face before the shot was heard.

Visually, The Great Gatsby is just beautiful. At times, it seemed like the scenes were happening in slow-motion and fast-motion simultaneously, if that makes any sense.  The vibrant, almost saturated color palate and the contemporary soundtrack fit into the story perfectly. Oh, and the party scenes are amazingly jam-packed with hundreds of extras, all gorgeously dressed, singing, drinking and dancing. Luhrmann skillfully used these things to enhance Fitzgerald's story instead of distract from it.

Have you seen the movie? What did you think? Did you want to wear great headbands like Daisy and drive in fast cars after the credits ran or was I the only one? xo