Now that I have given my over all
review of The Great Gatsby (movie), which in general I liked, I now feel like it is OK to go ahead and be the Fitzgerald geek that I am and pick apart and point out the things I didn't like, and yes, if you haven't seen the movie this is going to be a spoiler.
Disclaimer: I get this is a movie and that movies and books are different. I get it. But as a super fan, I reserve the right to talk about the changes they chose to make and what I think about how it changes the story, if it adds to the story, if it was necessary whatever. I invite discussion on your take away as well, what bugged you or what changes you thought we nice touches.
First, I have to talk about putting Nick into a sanitarium. I totally get the the reason why they chose to do this, it gives Nick a reason why he is telling the story, but if you insist on keeping the need for narration then he could just as easily be telling a group of friends, or just thinking about it or just sitting down and writing a book or memoir. He didn't need to be getting treatment. By having him seeing a therapist are we being guided to think of Nick as unstable. Isn't part of reading The Great Gatsby for us to decided if we find Nick to be reliable? OK certainly therapy does not carry the stigma it once did, but back in the 1920's I am not sure they looked and anxiety, depression and alcoholism the same as we do today. I can live with this choice, I wouldn't have done it, but I can live with it. What I really would have like to see is the Nick narration convention be less of a focus. Because it is a movie I would like to be shown what he is seeing. Let us come to the same conclusions about the situation that he comes to by making the scenes tell the story. I am not sure how easy this could be done, but it is a treatment I would be curious to see. As far as the narrating of the movie goes, we have seen it done before and I think it works beautifully in the book, but I think it is what makes adaptation of this novel difficult. With Baz being the filmmaker that he is I thought he would explode this convention and come up with something new. So on that front I was dissapointed. It was the hardest thing for me to get past on my first viewing.
Did you catch that in the movie Tom and Nick were better "friends" than in the novel? Ok this is a very minor change, and this is one that makes sense to me for the movie, and I don't think it changes too much. This is one of the changes I can rally gloss over, and say...."OK makes sense, easier to explain why he is going over there, not sure you needed to so this, but OK"
I have to talk about the Tom & Myrtle party scene. Up front, it doesn't sit well with me, it is unbalanced and doesn't fit the rhythm of the movie. Almost like it was done by some one else, or done for another version of the movie. It is towards the beginning of the film, and once that scene happened I thought the movie was going to be something different then it was. I am having a hard time putting into the words the wrongness of this scene. It is like....
"parties are crazy, lets explode how crazy it could be....lets make it like a modern teenage orgy.... that is cool". But it is too much and I feel funny saying this, since it is Baz we are talking about, but it is too over the top, and too, too much.
Yes I love that Tom and Myrtle rush to have sex and leave Nick alone to listen. Thought that was a great touch, I didn't like that Tom added "I know you like to watch" jab at Nick. That just adds a layer to Nick that I am not sure is genuine to his character. The party then kicks in, and it is a party, crazy and out of control. But the party focuses on the party and forgot there are things discussed at the party we should know. People have crazy conversations when drinking which could have been included, instead he focused on the sexuality of the party. This is where I think it went over the top. Yes have it crazy, I loved that aspect, but pull it back just a tad. I also didn't like the balcony scene where Nick is standing outside and sees in the windows and sees himself. A good idea, but it didn't fit the film, we don't see this again and feels like it should have been left on the cutting room floor. I wonder if this scene was handled differently if I would feel different about the movie as a whole. If the party was pulled in just a bit and we cut the balcony/street section, what would the movie feel like? What do you think of the Apartment party? do you think it was too much and I should just embrace it. Does it add to the story for you? Or did it distract you like it did me?
Lets see, from this point, Gatsby's parties. Over the top? Yes. But then again weren't' they suppose to be over the top.
Klipspringer: Not sure he needed to be the relative of Mozart (or which ever famous composer he is related to). I guess his character would be difficult to explain in a movie, but just cut him or combine him with some one else.
Owl-eyes: I wish he talked more about the books in the library, they could have kept that part and still added the rest.
I am going to jump to the pool scene and the telephone. I am not happy with Daisy's hand reaching to make the phone call, I need her to be colder than that. I need her to really leave with out giving Gatsby another thought. Also, when Gatsby hears the ring and say's "Daisy", I was unhappy with that choice as well. I need him to die without the reassurance, he needs to be broken. He needs to be having the inner struggle of believing in his dream and yet having to face the facts that Daisy is an unthinking, cold bitch who left him in the lurch. The phone call and his thinking it is her ruins that. I think of him dying in doubt, not in hope.
As for the ending, I do wish we would have seen Mr. Gatz. But again I can see how this may effect the pace of the film. Maybe this is the Easter egg that new readers will discover after seeing the film and deciding to finally read The Great Gatsby. (Maybe that is my wishful thinking)
In the end, Books are always more satisfying than the movie. And when the book is one you have a close relationship with, there are always going to be things that don't fit with the version in your head. In the end, I can live with this adaptation. I am curious to hear what parts irked you and what parts you liked. Do the parts and choices that bother me bother you as well, or is there something else that gets your goat?
