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Jan Wahl Movie Review: 'The Great Gatsby'

"The Great Gatsby"
Toby McGuire & Leonardo DiCaprio in "The Great Gatsby" (credit: Warner Bros. Pictures)

(KCBS) – KCBS Entertainment Editor Jan Wahl reviews "The Great Gatsby", director Baz Luhrmann's attempt to bring F. Scott Fitzgerald's seminal 1920's novel to the big screen.

KCBS Entertainment Reporter Jan Wahl:

Jan Wahl Movie Review: The Great Gatsby (PG-13)


 
THE GREAT GATSBY (PG-13)

Let's be grateful for something in this season that is not a superhero. We've been fortunate with 42 and The Sapphires; now it's time for the imaginative Baz Luhrmann to take on F.Scott Fitzgerald's classic novel.

This is the tale of a mysterious and rich man in the Roaring Twenties - or is he trying to pass for rich? Nick narrates; a neighbor to Gatsby and a way to Gatsby's dream woman, Daisy.

The Great Gatsby Trailer w/ New Music by Beyoncé x André 3000, Lana Del Rey, Florence + The Machine by Warner Bros. Pictures on YouTube

Here's what works: the gorgeous sets (fun in 3D), cinematography as intoxicating as a Gatsby party, fabulous period fashion, and Leonardo DiCaprio is charismatic. The bad news is a weird soundtrack that takes us out of the period, a lack of emotional resonance, as if the director relished the period but found the book a burden.

Carey Mulligan is dull and mopey - this Daisy wilts. It should have been a Great Gatsby, instead it's a good Gatsby.

Three hats.


 
Movies To See Right Now: 42, The Sapphires, Kon-Tiki, The Company You Keep and At Any Price

Home Viewing/DVD: Lincoln, Silver Linings Playbook & Zero Dark Thirty


 
You can hear KCBS Entertainment Editor Jan Wahl's movie reviews on KCBS All News 740AM and 106.9FM Fridays at 8:53am & 4:53pm.

(Copyright 2013 by CBS San Francisco. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)

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