The Great Gatsby

USA Release: 29th March 1974

Watched on TV: Saturday 25th June 2011

Rating: 12

Genre: Drama, Romance

Runtime: 2hrs 24mins

Tagline: Gone is the romance that was so divine.

IMDb Plot Summary: Nick Carraway, a young Midwesterner now living on Long Island, finds himself fascinated by the mysterious past and lavish lifestyle of his neighbor, the nouveau riche Jay Gatsby. He is drawn into Gatsby's circle, becoming a witness to obsession and tragedy.

My Review: This is a weird film. I found it stiff and a little boring at first, once the action kicked in it got oddly involving as I wanted to know what happened next. And while the ending was quite a shock and left me thinking, I wouldn’t necessarily say it was a good film.

I was interested in seeing it, and indeed the only reason I stuck with it until the end, is because one of my favourite directors, Baz Luhrmann is re-making the film (based on the original novel) in 3D with two of my favourite actors starring- Leonardo Di Caprio and Carey Mulligan. I am fascinated now to see how what he does with the book, especially as the use of 3D seems completely unnecessary.

Back to the 1974 film then. There is a lot of ridiculous over-acting throughout the film, most notably by Mia Farrow. In fact it was often hilarious in places when it wasn’t meant to be at all. So I would say by all means go see the re-make, even read the book, but I'd say give this film a miss. 

Score: 6/10