Review of The Great Gatsby

I suppose the thought behind hiring Baz Luhrmann to direct THE GREAT GATSBY was that he could bring the Roaring Twenties as described in F. Scott Fitzgerald's book to life in a lavish, vivid, and colourful way and he does that all right. The first thirty minutes of this film is a headache-inducing overload of the senses, with everything directed in a way which makes over-the-top sound like a tame description. It's as if a kid ate a jar of sugar and then went berserk with tins of paint in an all-white room. The effect is nausea-inducing, and the worst thing for me is the use of anachronistic music (hip hop) and the like instead of period-era fare. The rest of the film settles down a bit, but the story still feels lightweight and drawn out, with a minimum of characterisation. Leonardo DiCaprio does the best he can with what he's given but you feel a bit sorry for him due to the lack of direction he receives, while others like Tobey Maguire and Carey Mulligan are miscast and out of place. Isla Fisher is embarrassingly bad. This is the kind of disappointment that I do my best to erase from my memory soon after watching.