THE GREAT GATSBY: magic for some, tragic for some!

Love is one such celebration of life that may look a wonderful experience to watch as an outsider but, sometimes, costs nothing less than utter loneliness & excruciating pain within for the host. Baz Luhrmann’s lyrical-magical-tragic drama THE GREAT GATSBY unfolds emotional layers of love through the changing times.

Set in 1920’s, Nick Carraway (Tobey Maguire) - an ameture bond-seller at Wall street finds and befriends with a mysteriously wealthy ‘talk of the town’ lone extravagant named Gatsby (Leonardo DiCaprio) in his dreamy filthy rich neighbourhood who throws grand larger than life parties for almost everyone in the town but probably no one cares about the lonesomeness he possesses in linger for his lady-love in bad times Daisy Buchanan (Carey Mulligan) to come back in his good times now. But is it good enough to regain what is lost in past?

THE GREAT GATSBY looks a bollywood film in many senses. The tragic love story where poor gets rich and now tries his best to get her lost love back, grand sets & astonishing art direction that creates a world wirth reference directly taken from fairytales and the soundtrack that celebrates life at every stage. Though, with a duration of almost 2 hour 30 min, slow pace, uneven screenplay and too much graphic work for an emotional love saga makes it a complete ‘no’ for entertainment-seekers.

Performances are good. DiCaprio excels the cast. My favourite scene of his is where he is to meet his girlfriend of the past, for the first in 5 long years and he is so anxious to make it all look impressive. Terrific! Besides, there is also Bachchan Saab. After all the Hullabaloo over his debut in Hollywood, I must say its great to see him sharing a good comfortable space on-screen with DiCaprio & Tobey…and he undoubtedly makes a mark in his small but unmissable role of Meyer Wolfsheim. I wish some more meaty roles from Hollywood to make it worth what this man deserves.

In nutshell, this literature-inspired emotion-bleeding drama is a cinematic experience where fine performances are overpowered by splendid visuals and superlative art-direction…but not for all. Strictly for those who love cinema for the sake of its art & craft. ***[3/5]