The Great Gatsby Trailer

One of the year's biggest question marks is Baz Luhrmann's adaptation of F. Scott Fitzgerald's classic novel (which also so happens to be my all-time favorite book).  The mystery remains after this first trailer, which promises style but only hints at substance.

Anachronistic music aside - drives me nuts - this looks like a gorgeous film.  Luhrmann is a director whose focus on visuals guarantees he has the style to pull off the flair that this period deserves, but the vacuousness of Australia suggests that he might miss the soul of the story.  The previous adaptation with Robert Redford failed to connect with the source material, and why shouldn't it have?  It's a slim volume, yes, but full to the brim with complexity and beauty, the sort of prose that is difficult, perhaps impossible, to translate to the screen without losing something.  In the transition from one medium to another, nearly everything must change in order to take advantage of the unique strengths afforded by the given medium, but it begs the question: are some stories better left alone, untouched, unadapted?  If the answer is "yes," then The Great Gatsby is Exhibit A.

My skepticism aside, I am truly excited for this movie, and I expect that even if it flops, there will be some greatness within it.  The cast looks great - even Tobey Maguire, whose casting I had doubted.  The art direction, costumes, and cinematography are appropriately lush and lovely.  (Those shirts!  Have you ever seen such lovely shirts?)  And, as hard as it is to admit, I'm actually intrigued at the thought of seeing the Roaring Twenties in 3-D.  In a movie so rich visually, the extra pop may help salvage a possible carwreck (even if the owners switched cars).

Alongside Maguire, The Great Gatsby stars Leonardo DiCaprio, Carey Mulligan, Isla Fisher, and Joel Edgerton.

Look for it Christmas Day.