Micitype Pretty Good

MoPoshy Absolutely brilliant

Abbigail Bush what a terribly boring film. I'm sorry but this is absolutely not deserving of best picture and will be forgotten quickly. Entertaining and engaging cinema? No. Nothing performances with flat faces and mistaking silence for subtlety.

Allison Davies The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

tomsview Francis Ford Coppola wrote the screenplay for this film version of the story, and although he changed, omitted and tightened a great deal of the dialogue, he stayed true to the spirit of the novel.The other versions have extensive narration sourced from Fitzgerald's text, but this one uses narration sparingly. Director Jack Clayton and Coppola tell this "Gatsby" in purely cinematic terms.However it all comes down to whether it nails the characters: the enigmatic Jay Gatsby (Robert Redford), and the love of his life, the flighty Daisy Buchanan (Mia Farrow).Robert Redford is a less effusive Gatsby than Leo DiCaprio, and he doesn't have the sense of impending tragedy that Alan Ladd projected. However, he seems just too grounded to be obsessing - with scrapbooks and press clippings - over the woman he loved, lost and now wants back again. Coppola's script also tones the character down - he is not as boastful as in the novel where he tries to disguise his humble beginnings - he glosses over his actions in the war, which are more detailed in all the other films, and certainly in the novel. Despite that, it is Robert Redford after all, and he holds attention without ever needing to do too much.Mia Farrow's Daisy is an edgier portrayal than Betty Field's, Mira Sorvino's or Cary Mulligan's, the neurotic quality works because Daisy is rather weak and indecisive - she is prepared to accept Tom Buchanan's unfaithfulness for the sake of a comfortable life, something Gatsby doesn't get.The film has the best supporting cast of all the films: Lois Chiles as Jordan Baker, Bruce Dern as Tom Buchanan and especially the Wilsons: Karen Black as Myrtle and Scott Wilson as George. Sam Waterston as Nick Carraway is a good balance to Redford's Gatsby. There is also homage to the 1948 version with Howard Da Silva, the original Wilson, now cast as Gatsby's associate, Meyer Wolfsheim. This is a beautiful looking production. You can see where the money was spent after securing two of the hottest stars of the day. The 1920's setting is captured beautifully with locations and scenes that encapsulate the recklessness of the era between WW1 and the economic disaster to come.The film captures the sadness and disillusion at the end. I can appreciate this film more now than when it was first released in 1974. After 40 years, it is far removed from all the other films and events that may have clouded my judgement back then.

Ross622 Jack Clayton's adaptation of F. Scott Fitzgerald's "The Great Gatsby" was a very well made movie with some of the best character development I have seen in a fictional work that was turned into a film. The movie stars Robert Redford as Gatsby who is a very successful businessman who has his own private company, Redford plays Gatsby it's as if he is taking the role like it is nothing to him. In the film we also meet the narrator to the story which is a bondsman named Nick Carraway (played by Sam Waterston) who is the cousin of the woman of Gatsby's dreams Daisy Buchanan (played by Mia Farrow) who got married to Tom Buchanan (played by Bruce Dern) while Gatsby was serving in WWI. Basically this movie along with the book is just one huge love square because Tom has a mistress named Myrtle Wilson (played by Karen Black) who is married to George Wilson (played by Scott Wilson). There is a lot of things that I like about this movie besides the acting, I also was really impressed with the production design as well as the costumes which both areas won Academy awards for 41 years ago. I did read Fitzgerald's novel before I saw this movie and while watching it the story became much more clear to me. I would rank this as one of the best romance movies of all time along with Gone with the Wind (1939), Ball of Fire (1941), It Happened One Night (1934), La Dolce Vita (1960), The Apartment (1960), and Some Like It Hot (1959). This is one of 1974's best films.

Family-Bert If you want to get the real thing read the book. Otherwise watch this movie. It is as close as a film can get to this masterpiece of American literature. I appreciate that the director and the script didn't try to deviate from the book. The actors are excellent throughout, except for Tom, who is adequate but miscast. Mia Farrow hits all the right notes. To appreciate Redford's understated acting, you need to see DiCaprio try the same role. The rest of the cast is flawless. Sam Waterston is the perfect empathetic narrator through whose eyes we see the tragedy unfold... but as hard as he tries we will never see it through Fitzgerald's pen unless we read the book.

matteo_raw3000 The Great Gatsby is set in the summer of 1922, a time that was defined by glamorous parties, loud music, high-class living and underworld life. It was an era of parties and good times, both for the wealthy and for the thousands who flocked to liquor, jazz and a general relaxation of inhibitions.Nick Carraway is the narrator. He is also a main character and Gatsby's closest friend and confident. He is loyal to Gatsby's dream and ultimately commits himself totally to Gatsby. Through Nick's point of view we see the events of the novel. Also, he does not clearly see or understand all that is happening, a confusion shared by the reader. We learn Gatsby's feelings and hopes as seen by Nick.Jay Gatsby makes his first appearance at the 30 minute mark. That is rather odd, as the other main characters are introduced from chapter one. All we know about him is that he is Nick's neighbor, lives in a big mansion in Long Island and throws big parties every night. His parties are the center of the novel, they are so vividly described and we are completely drawn into Gatsby's world. Supposedly Fitzgerald who also lived in Long Island got his inspiration for Gatsby's parties from his neighbor. The novel is structured around parties, both large and small. Thus far we know little about the man Gatsby. Who is he? Why does he throw parties every night? We are yet to find out. He soon makes acquaintances with Nick and draws him into his inner circle. A business partner of Gatsby is Meyer Wolfsheim, a disguised Arnold Rothstein, the notorious gangster who fixed the 1919 baseball world series. We learn that Gatsby has had an affair with Daisy, Nick's cousin, now married with idealistic, corrupt millionaire Tom Buchanan. The novel is about a quest: Gatsby's quest of having Daisy. This is the dominant motive in the novel. He seeks to repeat the past and the magical moment from five years ago when he was a poor young man, enlisted in the army. He knows all about Daisy – where she lives, whom she is married to. They eventually get together and for a brief period the two are happy together. Gatsby's dream is so close to succeed and he wants to put an end to the hiding and get Daisy only for him because he is afraid of the consequences of not having her after he was blinded by so many hopes and dreams.Gatsby is a tragic character: not only he would give everything in his pursuit of Daisy but also his doomed from the start relationship with her got him killed.As seen by the common reader he has a perfect life: his wealth is never cloaked; from the mansion, to the weekly parties, to the countless dress shirts and expensive cars, it is evident that Gatsby is rich as sin and is initially, through his inclusion in the nouveau rich, the epitome of the American dream. He's handsome, he's rich, he's socially reputable. What the reader doesn't know is that he built his empire with Daisy in mind and probably for her. Hadn't she had such an impact on him, he might not become that rich. What should we think of him: a romantic or a man who wants all for him? First time I saw this film, found it a bit too pretentious. Just before I read it the second time and saw two different Gatsby films I realize the impact it had had on me. One thing that I like about The Great Gatsby is that it works on so many levels: a romance story, a lavish description of the 1920's, a tragedy and a story about two characters longing for happiness: this is as much Nick's story as it is Gatsby's.