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DVD The Great Gatsby
This adaptation of the F. Scott Fitzgerald novel, scripted by Francis Ford Coppola, puts costume design and art direction above the intricacies of character. It's certainly a handsome try, and perhaps no movie could capture The Great Gatsby in its entirety. Robert Redford is an interesting casting choice as Gatsby, the millionaire isolated in his mansion, still dreaming of the woman he lost. And Sam Waterston is perfect as the narrator, Nick, who brings the dream girl Daisy Buchanan back to Gatsby. No, the problem seems to be that director Jack Clayton fell in love with the flapper dresses and the party scenes and the Jazz Age tunes, ending up with a Classics Illustrated version of a great book rather than a fresh, organic take on the text. While Redford grows more quietly intriguing in the film, Mia Farrow's pallid performance as Daisy leaves you wondering why Gatsby, or anyone else, should care so much about his grand passion. The effective supporting cast includes Bruce Dern as Daisy's husband, and Scott Wilson and Karen Black as the low-rent couple whose destinies cross the sun-drenched protagonists. (That's future star Patsy Kensit as Daisy's little daughter.) The film won two Oscars--not surprisingly, for costumes and musical score. --Robert Horton
I'm not going to recover all the same ground as previous reader reviews, thus adding to the Department of Redundancy Department flavor of this section. What I WOULD like to say is that the version of the film available to the purchasing public is horribly hampered by its "replacement" soundtrack. If you wish to see why this film was considered great at the time of this release, catch it on TV sometime with its original, scene-and-era-appropriate soundtrack, not the mewling, repetitive crap it was replaced with. I sincerely wish that whatever legal beefs led to its excision from the retail version of the film could be resolved. In the meantime, it's a great example of how a great soundtrack makes a great movie.
70s Take On a Jazz Age Classic
I won't reiterate what other reviewers have said in general about this picture; however, I feel compelled to write a few impressions. I watched the movie shortly after reading Fitzgerald's novel for the first time, and, like others, was generally disappointed in the adaptation, notwithstanding its being almost completely faithful to the storyline of the book.
1. I was confused about the film's score's winning the Academy Award in 1974, since much of the DVD's score sounds like the left-over soundtrack of an old "Marcus Welby, MD" episode. Based on some of the reviews here, however, it appears that the original Nelson Riddle score was replaced, possibly due to concerns about royalties or other intellectual-property issues.
2. Some of the casting can only be explained in the context of 1970s cinema, as it makes little sense now. In 1974, Robert Redford was considered the quintessential dashing leading man, and Bruce Dern had a long history of playing the heavy, although usually in westerns. I think someone must have seen something "period" in Mia Farrow, although I suspect that "something" tends to escape most viewers nowadays, in part because she looked too old for the role in 1974. However, I agree with some reviewers that Sam Waterston as Nick, Scott Wilson as Wilson, and Lois Chiles as Jordan Baker, were inspired choices, and are rightly regarded as such even today. Reasonable people may disagree, but I personally consider Karen Black as a great choice for Myrtle, but for a slight problem with her acting (see my next comment).
3. The biggest problem with the film is not the casting, per se, but rather the ACTING, for which I blame the director more than the actors themselves. Given that Tom Buchanan is supposed to be from the midwest, one can forgive Bruce Dern for sounding and acting a little hick-ish, but I can't forget the fact that I'm watching Dern PLAYING Tom. Farrow's performance as Daisy is also unconvincing; her simpering, cloying manner is enough to make me wonder (a) why someone doesn't break HER nose, and (b) why Gatsby doesn't simply say, upon making her re-acquaintance, "Oh, NOW I remember how you were--never mind the whole thing!" Black's performance as Myrtle is too over-the-top--she well LOOKS the part, but she comes off as too unbalanced to attract anyone of Tom's economic stature.
4. The cinematography and editing leave a lot to be desired, as well. The film simply has too much of a made-for-TV look and feel (and, mind you, a 1970s made-for-TV look and feel), which is only aggravated by the new-for-video score.
5. Notwithstanding all my criticisms, the costumes, sets, and art direction are sometimes stunning. One good example is the ash-heap location of Wilson's garage and the all-seeing "Dr. Eckleburg" sign--as I read the book, I had trouble picturing the locale in my mind, but the film nails it. Another image that the film gets right is the "green light across the bay" and everything that it symbolizes. Finally, as one reviewer said, perhaps the West/East Egg mansions in the film look more Newport than "Lawn Guyland"; however, they do much to evoke the opulence and "carelessness" (i.e., the amorality and sense of privilege of the old-money rich) that Fitzgerald wished to convey in the novel.
It all adds up to a fairly mediocre film, but it still has its little charms. For fans of the book, it bears one or two viewings, anyway.
The (not so) Great Gatsby
What do you do when a classic piece of literature, a book that you've read and are very fond of, is brought to the screen in a horrendous rendition? Keep watching or stop, I guess, and for some reason I found it okay to keep watching. (This had nothing to do with the quality of the movie itself, which is pretty bad, but more with a personal sentimental feeling I have about the storyline and setting.) Robert Redford plays Jay Gatsby and he is terrible, totally wrong for the part. So is everyone else (though Sam Waterston as the narrator/participant Nick Carroway comes closest to being redeemable). The major problem is that Fitzgerald's starkly realistic novel is presented here as a fuzzy, soft-focus, mushy piece of fluff, with the trappings of West Egg (the parties, the silverware, fancy cars, etc.) taking top billing over the acting. It's overly long and pretentious. But the story of Jay Gatsby is just so moving and rich that even this disappointing movie can't destroy it completely. It could have and should have been so much better, though.
The Salem witch hunts are given a new and nasty perspective when a vengeful teenage girl uses superstition and repression to her advantage, creating a killing machine that becomes a force unto itself. Pulsating with seductive energy, this provocative drama is as visually arresting as it is intellectually engrossing. Arthur Miller based his classic 1953 play on the actual Salem witch trials of 1692, creating what has since become a durable fixture of school drama courses. It may look like a historical drama, but Miller also meant the work as a parable for the misery created by the McCarthy anti-Communist hearings of the 1950s. This searing version of his drama delves into matters of conscience with concise accuracy and emotional honesty. Three passionate cheers for Miller, director... More Info about this DVD Actor(s): Daniel Day-Lewis - Winona Ryder Director(s): Nicholas Hytner DVD Release Date: Released the 01 June 2004 Usually ships in 24 hours
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Boy loses girl, boy wins her back, boy loses her again and is killed in his pool. F. Scott Fitzgerald's classic Jazz Age tragedy once again makes a somewhat rocky transition from page to screen in this A&E production starring Academy Award winner Mira Sorvino as the feckless Daisy. This version has Paul Rudd (the stepbrother who got the girl in Clueless) doing the honors as narrator Nick, who reintroduces his married cousin to his lavish-party-throwing neighbor Gatsby. Toby Stephens captures the heartbreaking single-mindedness of Gatsby, although not once does the phrase "old sport" seem to fall naturally from his lips. Director Robert Markowitz uses flashbacks of Daisy and Gatsby's prewar courtship in an attempt to explain their reckless relationship, but they do little more than... More Info about this DVD Director(s): Robert Markowitz DVD Release Date: Released the 30 January 2001 Usually ships in 24 hours
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A strong argument favors Gary Sinise's 1992 Of Mice and Men over the classic 1939 version that critics have historically preferred. As adapted by the great playwright-screenwriter Horton Foote, John Steinbeck's Depression-era masterpiece comes alive with timeless simplicity, more candid in language and behavior, and therefore more honest in its embrace of Steinbeck's beloved pair of lowly dreamers George (Sinise) and his retarded cousin Lennie (John Malkovich). On the lam, they find work as farmhands, joining a close-knit crew and trying to avoid trouble stirred by the dangerously seductive wife (Sherilyn Fenn) of the boss's sadistic son (Casey Siemaszko). There's not a false note or bad performance in the entire film; as veterans of Chicago's acclaimed Steppenwolf Theater,... More Info about this DVD Actor(s): Gary Sinise - John Malkovich Director(s): Gary Sinise DVD Release Date: Released the 04 March 2003 Usually ships in 24 hours
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Ranking No. 21 on the American Film Institute's list of the 100 greatest American films, this 1940 classic is a bit dated in its noble sentimentality, but it remains a luminous example of Hollywood classicism from the peerless director of mythic Americana, John Ford. Adapted by Nunnally Johnson from John Steinbeck's classic novel, the film tells a simple story about Oklahoma farmers leaving the depression-era dustbowl for the promised land of California, but it's the story's emotional resonance and theme of human perseverance that makes the movie so richly and timelessly rewarding. It's all about the humble Joad family's cross-country trek to escape the economic devastation of their ruined farmland, beginning when Tom Joad (Henry Fonda) returns from a four-year prison term to discover... More Info about this DVD Director(s): John Ford DVD Release Date: Released the 06 April 2004 Usually ships in 24 hours
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