The Great Gatsby (1974)

Not A Great Movie

Perhaps some classics cannot be made into movies. THE GREAT GATSBY, which makes anybody's list of the great American novels, may just be one. Having just seen this film again for the first time since its release, I think I need to reread the novel. The chief flaw of the movie is the casting of Mia Farrow as Daisy Buchanan. While she certainly can act and become hysterical at the smell of a room full of roses, it is difficult to understand the power that she holds on Gatsby. While Redford makes an adequate if not outstanding Gatsby, Sam Waterston, a very fine actor indeed, is perfectly cast as Gatsby's neighbor. Bruce Dern works as the boorish Tom Buchanan, Karen Black isn't bad as his woman on the side, and Scott Wilson as her cuckolded husband who seeks revenge is well cast.

The music by Nelson Riddle, who won an Oscar for his efforts, is really quite wonderful. And the wardrobe department must have gone over its budget. As Buchanan snidely remarks at one point, Gatsby wears pink suits.

While the movie get better towards the end, for much of over its two hours it moves far too slowly. Some of the photography should have been edited out. I refer to one scene in particular where we see a closeup of Gatsy and Daisy in an upside down reflection in an aquarium as they kiss while gold fish swim through them. Ugh.

As I watched this terribly static film, I keep thinking how much better it could have been if it had been a Marchant Ivory production. It probably deserves a C but I'd give it a B-. October 10, 2008

Daisy, Daisy, Daisy.

The Great Gatsby starring Robert Redford, Mia Farrow, and Sam Waterston is a pretty interesting adaptation of the F. Scott Fitzgerald classic novel of the same. I like this film, I don't think the movie treads far from the book even though others disagree. The ending is sad and may not satisfy the viewer but hey this is how real life is, no happily ever after. Check this under-rated film out sometime, enjoy! September 13, 2008

The "Greatest" Great Gatsby Movie

As with any movie that's based on a book, the book will always be superior. I've seen all the Gatsby movies, and this is by far the best one. I can't think of anyone better to play Jay Gatsby than "The Natural", Robert Redford. Mia Farrow played a good Daisy Buchanan, as Farrow's over-acting, exaggeratedly-dramatic hallmark fit well in her character. Sam Waterston played a great Nick, as the objective third party between Jay Gatsby and Tom Buchanan (Bruce Dern). I suggest that every read the book by F. Scott Fitzgerald of course before you watch the movie. The 1949 movie with Alan Ladd and Betty Field was okay, and the 2000 made-for-TV movie with Toby Stephens was decent, but this one was superb. August 16, 2008

A Great "Gatsby"!

This stunning production with its splendid cinematography and its intelligent script by Francis Ford Coppola captures the essence of F. Scott Fitzgerald's novel of the man who pursues his preposterous dream. Robert Redford is utterly convincing as the enigmatic protagonist, Gatsby, whose personality "seemed to face . . . the whole external world for an instant, and then concentrated on you, with an irresistible prejudice in your favor" [Fitzgerald, Chapter 3]. Young Sam Waterston portrays a believable Nick Carraway, Fitzgerald's narrator and empathetic observer; and while some reviewers have criticized Mia Farrow's performance, in my view, she is pitch perfect as the shallow, spoiled young woman whose "artificial world was redolent of orchids and pleasant, cheerful snobbery and orchestras which set the rhythm of the year, summing up the sadness and suggestiveness of life in new tunes" [F. Ch. 8]. Farrow's performance makes us understand how Daisy's porcelain beauty and fecklessness could ignite the obsession of a man who has, after all, invented his own persona. Both of them are equally unreal.

The production values are superb. The settings, the music, and magnificent costumes--the pastel beaded silks and satin pumps, the feathered head-dresses--convincingly portray privileged wealth of the 1920s, which would soon plummet into the Depression--the great Valley of Ashes that infected the 1930s and indeed contaminated the entire twentieth century. July 20, 2008

The Great Gatsby DVD

I bought this for my 17 yr old daughter as she had just read the book in her English class. I had seen it when it originally came out. My daughter LOVED it and shared it with her friends. She felt it was very true to the book. June 13, 2008

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