This has been a spectacular weekend. Now homework, and really no work in general whatsoever. Now I get to enjoy a full week of no school, and it really does feel quite.....relieving. I finally gave in and watched The Great Gatsby starring Leonardo DiCaprio (Jay Gatsby), Tobey Maguire (Nick Carraway), Joel Edgerton (Tom Buchanan), and Carey Mulligan (Daisy Buchanan) directed and written by Baz Luhrman. I actually do not care very much for Mr. Luhrman's work; I have seen almost all of his major motion pictures and didn't like a single one of them. I am kind of on the fence with this film. I think it has something to with Tobey Maguire and how much I don't care for him as an actor, and then how wonderful Leonardo DiCaprio performed, and he continues to grow more and more talented as his career advances. I have a feeling he's going to be one of the greats in 20 years. The film follows the narrative of Tobey Maguire's character who comes off as this youthful hopeful in 1922 in New York City and finds himself on the rich and powerful party scene. His neighbor, the mysterious Jay Gatsby, invites him into his spectacular life and enlists his help to woo an old love of his. What kind of a man is Gatsby, and who is he really? Nick endeavors to find out, and do others though their motives are less pure. It's difficult for me to summarize this film story and plot; the book it is based off of written by F. Scott Fitzgerald is a book I've never read nor do I know much about it. Based solely on the film, I know Leonardo DiCaprio delivered an incredible performance; he really made the character as endearing as he was made out to me in the film. The rest of the cast was engaging and believable, but Tobey Maguire came off as awkward and in the way, and honestly most of the time the film was quite boring. The ending was great, and when Gatsby was first introduced seemed to be the best parts of the film. I suppose I would see it again. Visually it was lovely and at times breathtaking, the music was done very....interestingly, and I would have gone a completely different way, but it didn't detract too much. There wasn't anything really impressive about the screenplay written by Luhrman and Craig Pearce, but when Tobey Maguire was reading what I perceive as direct quotes from the book, Fitzgerald's words were eloquent yet gripping. I'm giving it an "Admirable Ability," but this is one film that I am neither going to recommend people to see or not see, that is how much on the fence I am about it. I would probably feel entirely different about it if Maguire would not have been in it (that is how much I didn't care for his performance). Here comes the week, but I think that it will be a good one; it will be much more broken up me, which should loosen the amount of stress, at least I hope. May the Force be with us all.
The Great Gatsby trailer
Endless Love trailer (boy does this look predictable and bad)
