An adaptation of F. Scott Fitzgerald's Long Island-set novel, where Midwesterner Nick Carraway is lured into the lavish world of his neighbor, Jay Gatsby. Soon enough, however, Carraway will see through the cracks of Gatsby's nouveau riche existence, where obsession, madness, and tragedy await.
For all the antic, manic itchiness of his Gatsby, for all the jazz hands, the movie doesn't reach out and grab you.
– Wesley Morris,
Grantland,
3 Jan 2014
rotten:
It's stupefying, it's vulgar, it's demeaning-it's dull and there's nothing like the dullness that is trying to be a sensation.
– David Thomson,
The New Republic,
12 Jun 2013
rotten:
There are no two ways about it: The Great Gatsby is misconceived and misjudged, a crude burlesque on what's probably American literature's most precious jewel.
– Tom Charity,
CNN.com,
15 May 2013
rotten:
The central problem with Luhrmann's film is that when it's entertaining it's not Gatsby, and when it's Gatsby it's not entertaining.
– Christopher Orr,
The Atlantic,
10 May 2013
fresh:
The best attempt yet to capture the essence of the novel.