The abnormal mind is quick to detect and attach itself to this quality when it appears in a normal person, and so it came about that in college I was unjustly accused of being a politician, because I was privy to the secret griefs of wild, unknown men. In consequence I'm inclined to reserve all judgments, a habit that has opened up many curious natures to me and also made me the victim of not a few veteran bores. He didn't say any more but we've always been unusually communicative in a reserved way, and I understood that he meant a great deal more than that. 'Whenever you feel like criticizing any one,' he told me, 'just remember that all the people in this world haven't had the advantages that you've had.' Also, the portrayals of Daisy and Jordan just don't seem to draw us in.In my younger and more vulnerable years my father gave me some advice that I've been turning over in my mind ever since. It fades and fades and in the end, it's hard to care much. Luhrman seems to think he can do it all visually, but this is a story of lost souls, trying to recover something they can't seem to reach. He's still physically lacking as a leading man. Again, I like Maguire in other roles, but here he seems nothing more that Gatsby's toy.

I never pictured Nick as the little boy seen here (Sam Waterston, while not perfect, at least seemed like a possibility). Another issue, however, is with the portrayal of Nick Carraway. He is so obsessed as to appear weak and maudlin. DiCaprio (or the script he must follow) make him seem like a giddy love soaked schoolboy.

His failures of the past are in his head. Neither DiCaprio or Redford (both of whom I really like) catch the true sense of the mysterious Gatsby. This is at least the third time and I've been really disappointed all three. Maybe it's not possible to portray one of the greatest books ever written on the silver screen.

The Great Gatsby free