When you think of the Roaring 20’s, what comes to mind? I think of flapper girls and Speakeasies, bootleg whiskey and moonshiners. I also think of a generation of young people who for the first time is recovering from a major world war. I think of elaborate parties in Chicago, New York and Paris and a young group of adults who dealt with an abundance of wealth thanks to a soaring stock market.
This weekend I was finally able to see The Great Gatsby staring Leonardo DiCaprio as Jay Gatsby and Tobey Maguire as Nick Carraway. I thought it would a great idea to compare this 2013 version of the movie to the 1974 version starring Robert Redford as Jay Gatsby and Sam Waterston as Nick Carraway.
Below are my findings.
The Great Gatsby Synopsis
Nick Carraway just moved to New York to become a bond salesman. He rents a property in West Egg, Long Island across the bay from his wealthy cousin Daisy Buchanan and her husband and child.
Carraway’s neighbor is an eccentric new millionaire who is known for throwing elaborate parties on the weekend in which he is always conspicuously absent. When Carraway finally meets his neighbor he finds that he is an old acquaintance of his cousin, Daisy.
Carraway reintroduces the old lovers and an affair ensues. But Gatsby is not satisfied being Daisy’s lover. He wishes to become her husband and requests that she leave her husband.
Carraway, Gatsby, Buchanan, Daisy and a friend decide one hot evening to head to the city. Buchanan takes Gatsby’s car and stops at Wilson’s gas station to fill up where he learns that his mistress and her husband are planning to move out west. While in the city, Buchanan and Gatsby get into a conflict and Buchanan outs Gatsby as a bootlegger for the mob.
While driving back to Long Island, Daisy hits Myrtle, Buchanan’s mistress, and kills her. Buchanan comes by the scene later and is struck by grief to learn of Myrtle’s death. He blames Gatsby and drops a hint to Wilson that the car that hit Myrtle belonged to Daisy. Wilson goes to Long Island and shoots Gatsby before turning the gun on himself.
In the end Carraway’s romanticism about the wealthy life of the 20’s is ruined. Gatsby takes the fall for everything and is despised by the ones who used to attend his parties and call him a friend. Daisy and Buchanan take off, leaving their mess to be cleaned up by those left behind, not really being touched by the tragedy that they both created with their recklessness.
2013 Movie Review
The 2013 film adaptation is more of a caricature of the book. It takes the personalities and circumstances of the characters in the F. Scott Fitzgerald novel experience to the extreme. Everything is bigger than life and exaggerated.
Leonardo DiCaprio plays Gatsby pretty well. He comes across as a man who is barely holding it together. He’s emotionally unstable, exaggerative, and incapacitating hopeful. His character is a ridiculously lavish and eccentrically social. He knows everyone yet no one really knows him. I think he was also a bit polarized and could have toned it down in certain parts of the movie such as when Buchanan and Gatsby have their final showdown in New York City.
Tobey Maguire is the perfect complement to DiCaprio’s Gatsby. They work flawlessly together and Maguire often grounds DiCaprio’s character so that he does not feel too over the top.
One thing I did not really appreciate is the Jay-Z music at the parties. Although I know that the director wanted to put a more modern twist on the movie, I think he had already managed that through the costuming and visualization of the film and didn’t need to add something that was outside of the period. I think the movie would have benefited more by a modern twist on the well-known jazz songs of the era.
Overall, I give the film 4 stars and recommend it to anyone who is familiar with the book and has a love for the story.
1974 Movie Review
Compared to the 2013 version just released in theaters two weeks ago, the 1974 version of the movie is completely subdued. While the character of Daisy is just as wild and rambunctious as in the later film, the other characters are decidedly duller. Robert Redford seems a little out of place playing the insecure Gatsby while Sam Waterston is the perfect naive, star-struck Carraway. And like DiCaprio and Maguire’s perfect, chemistry, these two men seem to have it as well. Also, the music and soundtrack of this film is more in line with the 1920’s era and didn’t stick out as not belonging.
I also give this film 4 stars and find it an equally compelling version of Fitzgerald’s story.
What did you think of the latest Gatsby film adaptation?
