The Great Gatsby

Gatsby believed in the green light, the orgiastic future that year by year recedes before us. It eluded us then, but that's no matter--tomorrow we will run faster, stretch out our arms farther. . . . And one fine morning-- So we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past. more

Had to watch this for our English lit exam. The film is pretty much like the book and most of the characters are like what Fitzgerald wrote in his book. Robert redford really was made for the role of Gatsby, Mia farrow, well a little over the top maybe but that was Daisy in the book. more

The shot composition is absolutely fantastic and the direction is undoubtedly solid, but this film draws disappointingly weak performances from a great cast. Redford's character is the only one acted to satisfaction. more

I get the impression that the people giving this movie poor reviews are a mix of 1) intellectual snobs (or would-be) who think it compulsory to pan any screen attempt to tackle great literature or 2) hooligans who can't appreciate a movie unless it's got blood, guts, and vulgarity (in short, like most movies made today). I loved Fitzgerald's book, and I loved this film, and here's why: It is not only an effective, emotionally gripping rendition of the book (made plain by the very dislike so many people express for its intentionally dislikable characters), but it is a visually stunning one,... more

This movie is both great and awful depending entirely upon one's need for accuracy or how deeply you may have felt about the book by F. Scott Fitzgerald. Francis Ford Coppola wrote the screenplay for this film and followed the classic book about as closely as a film is capable of doing. But I found the direction to be flawed somehow. The film is filled with starlit close-ups (no one's eyes sparkle like that, not even Daisy's) and smoke screen silhouettes, complex party scenes and plenty of flapper costumes. I just couldn't figure out why all of the strange lighting existed after hiring two... more