MovieChat Forums > The Great Gatsby (2013) Discussion > This movie needs to calm down

This movie needs to calm down

posted 9 years ago by lorem_ipsum_dolor_sit_amet
4 replies | jump to latest

I liked the music--yes, it's weird, rap and Beyonce and whatnot mixed with ragtime or whatever that old timey music is--but I felt like as soon as one number ended, another began, and it came pretty close to being overblown. One scene has a sweeping, emotional ballad by Lana Del Rey, the next has a rousing, frantic piece to accompany the partying. The music never lets up and never stops trying to manipulate the viewer's emotions.

And the camera would not remain still. It was constantly moving up and down and left and right and flying across that CGI bay between West and East Egg, almost hitting a sail on a boat, or flying out of Myrtle and Tom's apartment, past a construction site where a lone welder works, the sparks flying from his torch. I sometimes felt like it was too much. Did I need to see a welder? Did I need to see the sparks?

And the performances, especially from the supporting players, were laughably cartoonish. I'm thinking of the cab driver who bellows, "Evening, sweethearts! Where to?" or Dan Cody's "What the hell you doin' . . . OLD SPORT?" or Nick's doctor who stupidly asks, "So . . . he was your neighbor?" or the maniacal look on Klipspringer as he played the pipe organ. Even Amitabh Bachchan, who was pretty good, sounded a little over the top when he said, "You smell so good!" The performances were ridiculously overdone enough to make me laugh.

[–] poorlittleteacher 9 years ago

Moulin Rouge did this exact same thing and yet both movies are still either love or hate. I see both sides; the first party made me dizzy & I didn't even see it in 3D.

[–] FitzgeraldReader 9 years ago

Brilliant critique. Spot on with one of many things wrong with this version of The Great Gatsby. Spot on! And from some angles I didn't really think about - cinematography and soundtrack was bad.
Still heart broken over this adaptation of the Great American Novel.

[–] lorem_ipsum_dolor_sit_amet 9 years ago

I kinda liked the soundtrack--especially the mashups of modern and jazz age music. But the movie kept the music going non-stop, assaulting the viewer with one song after another, in an attempt to manipulate the emotions while acting as Cliffs Notes for the most important parts of the novel. Instead of just allowing the actors to portray a scene, the music had to underscore every moment of this movie in the most bombastic way. Are Daisy and Gatsby falling in love? Well, here's a really loud Lana Del Rey song about love! Are we in a speakeasy? Well, even though the conversation matters more than anything else, here's a Beyonce's "Crazy in Love" for some reason! Are we at a party at Myrtle's apartment, which in the book consisted of only some drinking and talking (and sex between Myrtle and Tom)? Well, here's a really loud Jay-Z and Kanye song and something that looks kinda like an orgy!

[–] DrIdaho 9 years ago

What has been said explains why this movie sucks.