Is Gatsby great?

Okay, so I was finally able to watch The Great Gatsby this morning.

I just got back a few minutes ago, and I have to say, this film is still haunting me. This is a good thing.

I'll admit to being a bit slow sometimes--for the first few minutes I thought it was over-staged, the movements of the actors too choreographed, but then I remembered that what we're seeing is the way Nick Carraway remembered the story, which may not be precisely what happened. That revelation sort of snapped it into focus for me, and when you watch the film, keep that in mind.

The cast was pitch-perfect. I've never had an opinion on Toby Maguire or Leonardo di Caprio before, having not seen much of their work, but they were both perfect choices for this film.

And I'll admit to being a sucker for a woman who can pull of the flapper look and this film had several--I lost my heart to Daisy (Carey Mulligan) just like Gatsby did. Gods, she was lovely.

The music was great. I thought I might have a problem with contemporary music being used on the soundtrack, but it was used effectively, I thought, and mixed with some vintage tunes when it was appropriate. I'm downloading the soundtrack album from ITunes right now. Loved the Lana del Rey song that was used throughout the soundtrack--it's a beautiful song anyway, but the way the chord progressions were incorporated into the ambient music was wonderful. As I said--haunting.

Yes, I've read the novel, several times, though it has been quite some time. But I was obsessed with it for a while. So, my expectations were quite high. This film met them.

Yes, I loved it. I recommend it highly. Go see it. I'm giving it an A+.  Perfect.