Review: The Great Gatsby (2013)

F. Scott Fitzgerald is in my opinion the greatest American author of all-time  and The Great Gatsby is the work for which he is most recognized.  While I would argue that it is not nearly his best work, there is no denying that it is one of the truly seminal pieces of literature of the twentieth century.  And while Robert Redford’s cinematic portrayal of Gatsby in 1974 is by no means perfect, it is in many ways the enduring visual representation of the character.  Thus, with all these things consider, director Baz Luhrmann’s and Leonardo DiCaprio’s endeavor to bring the novel to the big screen in a way that resonates with movie goers today, had to be viewed as nothing less than an incredibly challenging undertaking.  And much to my chagrin, it seems the duo bit off more than they could chew.

For those of you who didn’t pay attention during high school English class, the plot of the film follows Nick Carraway (Tobey Maguire) as he navigates the social circles of New York City in the 1920’s.  Through his eyes we see the story of Jay Gatsby (Leonardo DiCaprio), an eccentric man of great wealth, who has established an extravagant lifestyle for the purpose of  winning back the love of his life Daisy Buchanan (Carey Mulligan).  Unfortunately for Gatsby, she is married to Tom Buchanan (Joel Edgerton), a man who represents the physical embodiment  of the excess and soullessness that permeates the narrative.

On paper there was so much to be excited about in regards to this movie.  Beyond the fact that it's based on Fitzgerald’s novel, it was hard not to formulate grand expectations for movie that features a cast loaded with names like Leonardo DiCaprio, Carey Mulligan, Joel Edgerton, Jason Clarke, and Isla Fisher.  It is without a doubt a dynamite ensemble from top to bottom; one that screams Academy Awards season.  That, coupled with a director in Baz Luhrmann who has such a distinct visual flair, really had me convinced that this version of The Great Gatsby would be an absolute hit.  And then it wasn’t.

I think for me this movie fails on two levels.  The first has to do with Baz Luhrmann’s directorial choices.  On the surface his cinematic panache makes a ton of sense given the time in which the movie is set, but what his style over substance approach fails to capture is both the banality that underlies the excess and the quiet sense of desperation that afflicts the protagonists.  Instead we get just the big parties, fancy cars, lavish shapes and colors.  Without that deep sense of disconnect to balance those sights and sounds, the film start to play like just a series of loud noises and big sets.  And while I give him kudos for taking his usual scoring risk, nothing about Jay-Z’s music in this film works on any level.

My second issue with this film is with the casting, which is such a huge disappointment because the project is littered with a ton of talent.  The problem with the casting is the disconnect between the talent and their respective roles.  One such example is Joel Edgerton, an actor who has in the past repeatedly shown himself to be very talented.  Yet, in this film he looks and feels completely miscast as Tom Buchanan, because for all his acting acumen it is not within his range to to fully capture the requisite combination of privileged entitlement and moral corruption. 

Another example of casting gone awry is in the case of Tobey Maguire as Nick Carraway, though this is less an example of miscasting and more that Maguire is just not much of an actor.  In fact, I would go so far as to say that he is one of the more overrated talents in the business.  His performance in this film is a perfect example of why I feel this way.  What he does onscreen is not what one would call acting, nor is it a case of him playing a different versions of himself (a la Brad Pitt).  Tobey Maguire just shows up and  acts like himself – no matter the role.  In fact, if you were to close your eyes and listen to him speak generic lines from each of his roles, you would be hard-pressed to figure out the right movie.  That he serves as the narrator of the film and the person with the most screen time should serve as an indicator as to just how much of a miss this movie is.

In regards to the man given top billing, Leonardo DiCaprio is surprisingly uneven in his portrayal of the complex Jay Gatsby.  There are times when he is spot on with the role and other moments where things seem to drift awry.  He does share strong chemistry with Carey Mulligan and that helps to cover up a lot of the film’s blemishes, but like the rest of the movie, his performance seems overly focused on the visuals as opposed to the nuances.  Mulligan for her part does a nice job as Daisy Buchanan.  Of all the performances in the film, hers is the one that gives the plot exactly what it needs.

As for the rest of the cast, Isla Fisher and Jason Clarke are both good in very small doses but are in no position to dramatically upgrade the quality of the film.  Ditto for Elizabeth Debicki whose portrayal of Jordan Baker in many ways embodies the decaying soullessness that defines the social scene in East Egg.  Collectively the supporting players do a sound job manning the periphery of the plot, but unfortunately, too much of the film is left hanging on Maguire’s very limited acting range.

In considering this film in its totality, it becomes apparent that this movie was doomed before a single image was captured on film.  Poor directorial choices and weak casting no doubt laid the foundation for a flawed project.  Sure, there are Luhrmann apologists who are going to blindly love this and those who have not read the book that will approach this with a blank slate and appreciate the tragic romance angle that drives this film.  But to everyone else, it can be seen as nothing less than a disappointment and probably a film that most would be better served to avoid.  If it’s on cable television, I wouldn’t fault anyone for giving it a look, but the truth of the matter is that the best version of this story is the one that resides within the pages of Fitzgerald’s book.

Standout Performance:  Carey Mulligan.  She does just enough to rise above the mediocrity of her co-stars.

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Review: Now You See Me

The last movie that I saw featuring a magician as the protagonist was The Incredible Burt Wonderstone; a comedy that wasn’t funny and wasn’t a whole lot of fun.  Now You See Me is a whole lot better.  It’s not an apples to apples to comparison because while the former set up as a schlocky joke fest, the latter is a caper film wrapped up in deception and misdirection.  Still, Now You See Me is a fun fast-paced film that combines deception and good comedic relief with grand chase scenes to ensure that the tone of the rapidly paced film remains light. 

The plot of this movies features a strong ensemble cast in Jesse Eisenberg, Isla Fisher, Woody Harrelson, and Dave Franco portraying a quartet of magicians who have been brought together to perform the ultimate set of illusions; illusions that seemingly involve the robbery of institutions.  Mark Ruffalo and Melanie Laurent portray two agent charged with bringing the quartet to justice.  Along the way, they repeated find themselves butting heads with Thaddeus Bradley (Morgan Freeman) – a former magician who makes a living revealing the secrets of his peers.

As you can see from the synopsis, there is a lot going on in this movie; a series of threads that comprise this narrative.  A lot of credit has to go to director Louis Leterrier for bringing these threads together in a way to tell a comprehensive story.  At no point does the movie feel like it’s gone askew or sacrificed pacing to flesh out one of these plot lines, so kudos to him for maintaining that balance.  Likewise, a lot of credit has to go to writer Ed Solomon (writer and inspiration for Chuck DeNomoles from Bill & Ted’s Bogus Journey) for crafting a fun narrative.  I have no doubt that upon closer inspection, the plot has many holes, but like a magician Solomon’s script utilizes some slight of hand and misdirection to entertain.

Ultimately, the biggest strength of this movie though has to be the ensemble cast.  It’s a group of actors who for the most part are very accomplished and are clearly having fun with what the source material.  Here is how each fared:

Jesse Eisenberg as J. Daniel Atlas is the defacto lead of the film, though it never truly feels that way.  Eisenberg sticks to his usual twitchy performance with staccato delivery but it works as a control-freak-of-a-magician.  Say what you want about his range, but Eisenberg has the smug, holier-than-thou act down to a science and that lends a serious layer of credibility to his character.  What makes his performance pop is the complimentary work of Woody Harrelson as mentalist Merrit McKinny.  Harrelson is flip, sarcastic, and sleezey – the comic relief to Eisenberg’s OCD vibe.  Harrelson always shines in this capacity, as the wildcard supporting player, and his work here is no exception.

Rounding out the criminal quartet are Isla Fisher and Dave Franco.  I like Fisher a lot as an actress, but liked her a bit less in this film.  Of the entire cast, her turn was the least believable.  It doesn’t mean that she was terrible as she did share strong chemistry with Eisenberg and Harrelson, but there are distinct points in the movie where her scenes fewl lacking.  As for Franco, he is satisfactory and nothing more.  He’s looks and feels like a junior version of his brother and I suspect that his casting was more a stunt to broaden the target audience than anything else.

As for the cops’ side of the equations, I really enjoyed the performance of Melanie Laurent.  She is tasked with the most difficult role; that of an Interpol agent who is a believer in magic and mystic myth.  It’s not an easy line to toe for a movie that attempts steep itself in realism, but she does it with a nice touch.  It helps that she shares good chemistry with Mark Ruffalo as FBI agent Dlyan Rhodes.  While it wasn’t one of my favorite Ruffalo performances, he does a good job of pulling off the embattled agent vibe.  He is grizzled, angry, and obsessed, which is precisely what the script calls for.  While his work falls apart a bit for me at the end, Ruffalo does enough good in this movie to keep the proverbial line moving.

As for the rest of the cast, Michael Caine and Morgan Freeman could go back and forth reading entries from WebMD and make it entertaining without breaking a sweat and that’s what it feels like they are doing in this film.  Are they giving it their all?  Probably not.  But are they entertaining?  Yes.  Also lending a hand in the narrative are Common and Michael Kelly as FBI Agents.  Their respective performances certainly won’t make their highlight reels, but in very limited screen time they do a nice job of making the film that much better.

Despite all the platitudes, I don’t think it is a perfect film, and I’m sure that people with too much time on their hands could probably go in and pick at some plot holes and logic leaps.  Still, the film is fast, fun, and entertaining.  That’s a good trifecta of qualities for any movie to have.  I would not run out and purchase the DVD because it will not hold up for multiple viewings, but I would definitely recommend this as a rental.  Not every film has to change your life, tell an epic story based on historical events, or set up a franchise.  Some can just provide you with amusement for two hours of your life and Now You See Me is precisely that kind of movie.

Standout Performance:  Woody Harrelson.  Good actor with great comedic timing and it shows well in this movie.

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Review: Bachelorette

Bachelorette is one of those films first released via On Demand and Electronic-Sell-Through before a very modest theatrical release.  Back in the day when people were buying DVDs like bread and milk before a big storm, such movies were distributed Direct-to-DVD.  In other words, those movies stunk.  So I find it curious that some have described Bachelorette as a cross between The Hangover and Bridesmaids, because the latter two are actually quite entertaining. 

The plot of the movie chronicles the missteps surrounding three high school friends - Regan (Kirsten Dunst), Gena (Lizzy Caplan), and Katie (Isla Fisher) – who reunite as bridesmaids for the wedding of their friend, Becky (Rebel Wilson).  Selfish and mean-spirited, their respective behaviors cause problem after problem and ultimately threatens to derail the wedding.

The problem here is that writer/director Leslye Headland is trying to capture that R-rated comedic magic that others have seemingly bottled with movies such as Bridesmaids and Ted, but unfortunately she neglects the three key elements to successfully creating a solid R-rated romantic comedy – likability, humor, and some semblance of redemption.  Here is how I think she and her film fared:

1. Likability of the cast.  At some point in the past I liked most of the individuals in this cast; Isla Fisher in Definitely, Maybe; Kirsten Dunst in Bring It On, James Marsden in Bryan Singer’s X-Men movies, and so on and so forth.  Unfortunately, I loathe all of them in this movie and that goes ditto for Adam Scott, Lizzy Caplan (Parkey Posey 2.0), and Kyle Bornheimer.  Most everyone in this movie is unsavory and worse still is that nearly every actor in this movie is clearly mailing it in.  As a result one cannot help but feel ambivalent about whether or not the movie’s emotional strings (romantic and otherwise) end up tied in a neat bow.

2.  Humor.  Simply put, there is none.  Someone forgot to tell Headland that cocaine humor stopped being en vogue in the 90’s.  In all seriousness, I cannot recall one scene that elicited anything more than a mild chuckle.  Completely void of any semblance of wit, most attempts at a punch line come off as cruel and mean-spirited.  Sure, having protagonists who make snarky comments can play in a movie, but only when those characters are either likable or have redemptive qualities, which leads me to my third point.

3.  Redemptive qualities.  In a film, redemption comes form the journey where the characters emerge from the events of the plot transformed – finding themselves in a better place from whence they came.  In an R-rated comedy, this also means having the sensibility to straddle the line that divides adult humor and cras vulgarity, so as to ensure that no matter how far the protagonists stray into mean-spirited douchebaggery, viewers can all walk away from the film feeling good about the protagonists.  The trio of Dunst, Kaplan, and Fisher not cross that line, they aslo emerge from the journey (if there actually was one) unchanged.

So in taking stock of this film, it becomes obvious that Headland and her creative team swung and missed on all three criteria.  It should come as no surprise then that I am not recommending this film.  The purported romantic comedy is neither funny nor emotive, thus this is a film to be avoided  at all costs.  There are too many films in this raunchy comedy space that execute this formula infinitely better to waste your time on this one.  You have been warned.

Standout Performance: None.

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