My late and completely unnecessary review/opinion on The Great Gatsby

The Great Gatsby is one of my favorite books of all time. I hated it in high school, but rereading it in my first year of college really opened my eyes to the brilliance of it. It depicts Fitzgerald’s disillusionment of the so called “roaring ‘20’s”. The story is tragic, and there are hardly any redeemable or likable characters besides the title character. 

I think this movie captures the sense of the emptiness of the extravagance of the era. It is visually stunning (I saw the film in 3D, under the recommendation of a good friend of mine, and it was worth it) and it certainly conveys that these were wild times indeed.

The soundtrack, on its own, is awesome. I loved listening to it on my iPod. Utilized in the film was more of a mixed bag. Most of the time, I kinda liked it. The sweeping shots of New York accompanied with Kanye and Jay-Z  was awesome. That was done well. Other times, it felt like filmmakers were trying to shove the soundtrack into the film. One scene had a flapper girl singing a Florence + the Machine song. Meh.

All in all, I share the sentiments of one of my friends: “I liked it. I can see why people don’t.” It’s certainly not a perfect movie, and it almost feels like an amplified Sparknotes. The subtleties of the book were magnified, and the audience was slammed in the head with the symbolism of the “green light” and the “eyes”. 

Gatsby won’t win any awards, but it is a valiant effort at bringing a beloved classic to the big screen. 

hilarious!! 

highlights:

“it happens when you’re not looking.” 

“pray about it.”

“maybe if you give God one of your ribs, he’ll give you a wife”


christianity, i <3 the cliches haha