The Great Gatsby

Disclaimer: I am not a fan of 3D, in general. I think it is unneccesary and sort of silly. It drives up prices even more and for what? A few cheap thrills as something flies towards your face? No thanks. Since there are exceptions to every rule, I have two exceptions for my I Hate 3D rule. They are: Martin Scorsese's Hugo and Ang Lee's Life of Pi. These two films are examples of brilliant directors (two of the aboslute best, really) who know how to make a goddamn movie and know how to use 3D to enhance their films. Hugo was brilliant and while Life of Pi was a flawed masterpiece, the 3D definitely wasn't the problem. Baz Lurhman is already a pretty visual director (that's probably the understatment of the year). Moulin Rouge already popped off the screen and that wasn't even in 3D. When I first heard that The Great Gatsby would be filmed in 3D, I thought it was a terrible idea. Then I saw Hugo and Life of Pi and thought I could have jumped to the wrong conclusion. Lurhman is a great director too, so maybe he will get the 3D thing right also. But here's the problem. I'm not sure Baz had any idea what to really do with the 3D. If anything, I think the 3D in this case was highly detrimental to the film. But more on that in a moment.

In case you haven't read The Great Gatsby since tenth grade English class (unlike me who reread it last month in anticipation), here is the summary. Narrator Nick Carraway (Tobey Maguire) moves from the MidWest to Long Island in order to become a big wig on Wall Street. Meanwhile, he becomes obsessed with his millionaire playboy neighbor Jay Gatsby (Leonardo DiCaprio) who throws lavish, impossibly crazy parties in order to catch the attention of the girl who got away, and the girl who just so happens to live across the bay, Daisy Buchanan (Carey Mulligan), who also happens to be Nick's cousin, and also happens to be married to rich brute Tom (Joel Edgerton), who is having his own affair with a trollop named Myrtle (Isla Fisher), who is married to a sweet but stupid mechanic (oh, hey there, Jason Clarke with those sexy eyes). Also, there's sexy, mysterious Jordan (Elizabeth Debicki, doing her best angsty Rooney Mara impression), who is Daisy's bestie and Nick's love interest despite the fact that he's probably gay (at least this is implied in the book. They really make no mention of the fact that he's most likely in love with Gatsby in the movie, and really, why would they? It's not like it's 2013 or anything).

The acting is mostly pretty good. DiCaprio is perfectly cast as Gatsby. He's mysterious and sexy. He pretty much brings it as the pretty boy wanna be rich man. On the other hand, I'm not quite sure Maguire was the right choice for Nick. Sure, he played it well enough (and he had the hard part, what, with that excrutiating framing device), but Nick is supposed to be all wide eyed and innocent and I just didn't really get that vibe from Maguire. He seemed more confused than anything. Clarke, Debicki and Fisher are all fine but they don't really have much to do. Mulligan is fine as Daisy as well, but it's not necessarily her fault that she isn't better. The character of Daisy in the book is not written as a real person but as some sort of fantasy dream girl, so Mulligan does the best she can with a character that isn't necessarily adaptable. The problem with Mulligan's performance is just that she doesn't have any chemistry whatsoever with DiCaprio and that's sort of a problem when you are trying to make a romance movie. The highlight of the film, for me, is Edgerton who is absolutely the only subtle thing about this movie and takes Tom from being just some racist bully and turns him into this very layered, nuanced character.

And speaking of nuance, or lack there of, to say The Great Gatsby is opulent is an understatement. The party scenes are crazy and vivid, the costumes are luxorious and beautiful. But there is also the slight problem of it being all a bit much. The 3D distracts from the costumes which distracts from the music which distracts from the acting. The Great Gatsby is a feast for the eyes, but it is also just too much. The actors and the dialogue (those iconic lines written so many years ago that are still so ingrained in the minds of so many) and, even the plot!, all take a back seat to the crazy visuals.

Now, reading this, you probably assume that I hated The Great Gatsby, and it may sound that way, but it's not the case. I thought it was very flawed but by no means bad. Sometimes it's so good, it almost hurts because you realize what could have been. First things first, I loved the heavily hip hop influenced soundtrack. I guess there are a lot of people hating on the soundtrack because rap wasn't around in the 1920s. First of all, Jay-Z is timeless! Second of all, I don't remember people being all that upset about the music in Moulin Rogue - actually, quite the contrary, I'm pretty sure people loved it - and as far as I know no one was writhing around to Like a Virgin and singing songs by The Police in 1899 France. I also loved the shirt scene (which was always my favorite scene in the book) and I thought the entire sequence of Jay and Daisy reuniting at Nick's house was pretty perfect and funny. Also, you know, whenever Joel Edgerton was on screen was pretty great.

So, maybe it's just that The Great Gatsby isn't adaptable. I mean, the book is something like 150 pages long and it took 2 and a half hours for Baz to tell the tale. Maybe, people should just take 3 or 4 days and read the book again. It's widely considered the greatest American novel ever written for a reason.

Grade: C+

Best of 2012: Best Supporting Actress & Actor

Best Supporting Actress
10. Kelly Reilly in Flight - For making the cliche junkie with a heart of gold feel more raw and lived in than anyone else in a very long time.
09. Charlize Theron in Snow White and the Huntsman - For being the fairest and bitchiest queen of all.
08. Susan Sarandon in Arbitrage - For being the devoted wife, until she decides to blackmail her lying, cheating husband.
07. Jacki Weaver in Silver Linings Playbook - For being the devoted wife and mother... no, for real.
06. Judi Dench in Skyfall - For proving that M is the only Bond girl that matters.
05. Sally Field in Lincoln - For the scene in which she gives it to Tommy Lee Jones real good.
04. Emily Blunt in Looper - For being equally terrified of and devoted to her son.
03. Anne Hathaway in Les Miserables - For that killer, heart breaking rendition of I Dreamed a Dream.
02. Amy Adams in The Master - For taking the least showy role and quietly stealing the show from the boys.
01. Samantha Barks in Les Miserables - For being the girl everyone can relate to, and singing On My Own in the rain, and actually being able to sing, and actually showing true, real emotion. And finally, for being the best thing about a terrible movie.

Best Supporting Actor
10. Matthew McConaughey in Magic Mike - For being completely fearless and having a blast in his most fun role of a stellar year for him.
09. Samuel L. Jackson in Django Unchained - For being an even nastier villain than the main villain.
08. John Goodman in Flight - For being the worst influence of all time.
07. Nate Parker in Arbitrage - For coming out of nowhere and being absolutely electrifying.
06. Ezra Miller in The Perks of Being a Wallflower - For taking what could have been a cliched gay teenager role and turning it into something so special.
05. Tommy Lee Jones in Lincoln - For putting his money where his mouth is (and being the only amusing thing in a boring movie).
04. Leonardo DiCaprio in Django Unchained - For playing his first villain so perfectly, walking the fine line between hilarious and terrifying.
03. Robert DeNiro in Silver Linings Playbook - For giving us all one more great DeNiro performance (see you can still be a great actor and make a comedy!).
02. Ewan McGregor in The Impossible - For being such a natural talent that it's almost like watching someone really live through this stuff, and for THAT SCENE, that one scene which will tear your heart out.
01. Jason Clarke in Zero Dark Thirty - For giving the single best performance of this year regardless of gender or lead/supporting classifications. For giving a ferocious, sexy, vulnerable, mysterious performance that just left me wanting so much more.

Wednesday - Lead Actress & Actor!

Lawless

A few days ago, I was watching Deliverance. I know what you're thinking - what on Earth does Deliverance have to do with Lawless? And the answer is - not much. But I was wondering why they haven't remade Deliverance yet. I mean, believe me, I think it's a terrible idea, but they have remade just about everything else so it truly surprises me that they haven't done this yet. Then it struck me that there are very few actors these days who are really MEN. And I mean, MEN. Actors these days aren't like Burt Reynolds and Jon Voight. They may be able to act like men, but they aren't really MEN. Then I watched Lawless on Saturday and was remiss at leaving out Tom Hardy. Hardy is most definitely a MAN. When he beats the crap out of a guy in this movie, I have absolutely no doubt that he can do that in real life.

And so Lawless is the true story of the lives of the Bondurant brothers, a group of bootleggers in 1930s Virginia. There is Forrest (Hardy) and Howard (Jason Clarke), the older brothers who are both so bad ass that you wouldn't want to meet them in a dark alley. Then there is little brother Jack (Shia LaBeouf), who so badly wants to fit in with his brothers but is more sweet and sensitive than brooding and brawling. Their lives are perfectly fine, supplying moonshine to cops and neighbors and even a gangster (Gary Oldman), until a new deputy comes to town (best in show Guy Pearce) who decides to make their lives a living hell. Throw in Jessica Chastain as waitress / dancer Maggie, who catches Forrest's eye and Mia Wasikowska as preacher's daughter Bertha, who Jack tries to woo, and you've got your movie.

But I should mention Dane DeHaan, who plays Jack's crippled bestie Cricket. DeHaan also blew me away in Chronicle earlier this year and he kills it again in this movie. He surely has to be the most exciting new actor I've seen in years. And that has very little to do with his uncanny resemblance to a young Leonardo DiCaprio. I mean, he looks so much like DiCaprio in What's Eating Gilbert Grape? that I am 65% sure they actually digitally lifted Leo from that movie and superimposed him into this one. DeHaan is definitely One to Watch.

The rest of this cast is stellar as well. With the exception of The Dark Knight Rises, this is probably the best cast of actors assembled in a movie this year. This is the absolute finest work LaBeouf has done. He's always been a fine actor but has been weighted down by making bad movies. Here he truly shows how good he is at giving a layered performance and making a character likable. He has tremendous charisma which is a start. However, no one can upstage Hardy and Pearce here. Hardy is the most intense actor working today. He is completely intoxicating to watch in everything, and especially in this, which might be his finest performance since Bronson. But Pearce is the star of this show. His Deputy Rakes is a sociopathic lunatic, some kind of coiled up snake who is always ready to strike. And it's a joy to watch.

Lawless is a good movie, but unfortunately, I think it thinks it is a lot better than it actually is. Lawless, directed by John Hillcoat, is trying to be some great American masterpiece. It wants to be The Godfather, an epic truly American movie about a family that does bad things to protect each other. Lawless is not The Godfather. It has too many faults. To begin with, it completely wastes Gary Oldman in a thankless role. The roles of the women are terribly one dimensional and trite (Chastain tries her best to make her mark here and she succeeds to a point. I mean, a lesser actress who have been utterly forgettable in this movie). The pace is almost glacial, except during the extreme scenes of violence. That is truly when Lawless shines, when it finds it's niche as this character driven Western with swagger. Lawless fails at trying to be the instant classic movie it wants to be. But that's not to say it isn't a damn good movie with one hell of a cast.

Grade: B