The Great Gatsby - Jigga's version

I love a good book turned into a good movie; all things Jay-z even his marriage to Beyonce (#1 Beyhater here); and a movie with a good soundtrack.  The Great Gatsby starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Tobey Maguire gives me two out of the three.  You all know Leonardo from his many films, his biggest one being Titanic which put him on the map, but I also remember him as Luke Bower on "Growing Pains".  He has definitely grown up since then even if his face still looks like the face of a 13 year old just now with crows feet around the eyes.  Tobey has a long film resume as well, but his big break came when he starred as Spiderman for a few films.  These two both still look like they just got out of diapers, but I digress...

The Great Gatsby is based on F. Scott Fitzgerald's book which I'm sure you have read or were told to read in school and like me maybe just read the cliff notes version.  I'll spare you a synopsis since I'm sure you have an idea of the premise of the movie.  There is a bit of a twist with the modern soundtrack laced with a lot of hip hop, R&B, and pop beats with music from Jay-Z, Beyonce, Andre 3000, Will.I.Am, and the like.  You could definitely feel Sean Carter's executive producers influence throughout the film.  I'm not sure if the music helped or hurt the film, but it definitely felt a little out of place in the roaring 20's which is the backdrop of the film.  The set and design was colorful, magical, and full of energy; plus the cinematography was fantastic in giving you that party feel, but I felt the movie was a lot of bang for the buck, and no substance.

For the first 30 minutes or so, everything was moving so quickly, it was like watching an episode of Scandal (Have you been watching?  OM-freaking-G this show is good!).  Tobey was talking so fast and he scenes were moving so quickly that I was quite lost for awhile.  Things finally slowed down once Leonardo finally made an appearance.  It started getting interesting at that point, but the rise and fall of the excitement made the movie feel like it was dragging on and on until the final climax.  I did hear someone snoring which tells me, I wasn't the only one kind of bored.

I really wanted to like this movie.  I tried to find a positive in the cinematography, the set design, the soundtrack, but it just wasn't enough to make The Great Gatsby a great movie.  I'm more excited to buy the soundtrack than I am to see this movie again.  Leonardo does crazy well, so he'll probably get an award nod, but other than that, this movie was a dud.  Oh well.  There's always next week when Star Trek comes out, or maybe I'll go to the movies tomorrow and see Peeples...or maybe not.