I like Black Panther, but I didn't like this movie.

This story has more twists and turns than a second-rate soap opera.

Ok... Let's be honest. It cannot be the best movie but is quite enjoyable. The movie has the potential to develop a great plot for future movies

It is encouraging that the film ends so strongly.Otherwise, it wouldn't have been a particularly memorable film

I just finished re-reading F. Scott Fitzgerald's "The Great Gatsby". It's a novel I hated as a child -- was forced to read it for English in high school -- but appreciated much more as an adult. Then I went to Netflix and watched this movie again. It is, for the most part, a faithful adaptation of the novel but Fitzgerald's beautiful, succinct prose is the only reason to read this tragic tale to begin with. No matter how big the stars or how gorgeous the sets the bottom line remains the artistic assembly of words in the novel. Intermittent narration doesn't cut it and the story itself isn't much to begin with. It's ALL about Fitzgerald's use of words. Lacking that is lacking everything that makes "The Great Gatsby", the novel, something of value. This movie compared to the novel is like...a paint by numbers kit for a masterpiece by Van Gogh or an elementary school band's rendition of Beethoven's 9th Symphony.So, I guess I'll say, if you haven't read the novel you may enjoy this movie. And even if you've read the novel the movie may satisfy on some level though the heart of it has been cut out. But do yourself a favor and read the novel. Read every word. Drink them in. Admire the skill with which Fitzgerald uses language. Then go watch "The Great Waldo Pepper", another Redford film, and enjoy.

Jack Clayton's adaptation of F. Scott Fitzgerald's "The Great Gatsby" was a very well made movie with some of the best character development I have seen in a fictional work that was turned into a film. The movie stars Robert Redford as Gatsby who is a very successful businessman who has his own private company, Redford plays Gatsby it's as if he is taking the role like it is nothing to him. In the film we also meet the narrator to the story which is a bondsman named Nick Carraway (played by Sam Waterston) who is the cousin of the woman of Gatsby's dreams Daisy Buchanan (played by Mia Farrow) who got married to Tom Buchanan (played by Bruce Dern) while Gatsby was serving in WWI. Basically this movie along with the book is just one huge love square because Tom has a mistress named Myrtle Wilson (played by Karen Black) who is married to George Wilson (played by Scott Wilson). There is a lot of things that I like about this movie besides the acting, I also was really impressed with the production design as well as the costumes which both areas won Academy awards for 41 years ago. I did read Fitzgerald's novel before I saw this movie and while watching it the story became much more clear to me. I would rank this as one of the best romance movies of all time along with Gone with the Wind (1939), Ball of Fire (1941), It Happened One Night (1934), La Dolce Vita (1960), The Apartment (1960), and Some Like It Hot (1959). This is one of 1974's best films.

The Great Gatsby (1974): Dir: Jack Clayton / Cast: Robert Redford, Mia Farrow, Bruce Dern, Sam Waterston, Karen Black: Over-praised spectacle about accomplishment, although this film accomplishes virtually nothing. Jack Clayton's remake is pathetically corny with serious undertones where two individuals are shot to death and then end credits that burst into a bloody musical. There is something truly cynical about that sort of ending. It starts out well with the rich folks and their stupid parties. Sam Waterston lives next door to the mysterious Gatsby who is rich but gossip shields any facts. He is in love with a married woman who was once his but he was poor. Now he wishes to free her from her dominating husband. Director Clayton shifts from drama to comedy to musical with slow motion shirts flying through the air. Whatever he is attempting, he chose the wrong project to project these ideas. Perhaps he should have employed these ideas in a laundry commercial. Robert Redford's job is to look mysterious while Mia Farrow overacts hideously. Either way we could care less for either romantic intention. Bruce Dern plays her pig-headed husband in a role that is as predictable as the leads and every bit as dull. Karen Black is also featured and her role is as dull as everyone else in the film. Only Sam Waterston seems altogether as he observes how totally not great this dog show really is. Score: 3 ½ / 10

This version of THE GREAT GATSBY has its share of detractors, and possibly for good reason: the narrative crawls along at a snail's pace, while the period atmosphere, although lovingly evoked by designer John Box, appears strangely false. Everything is just too shiny, even the interior of the Plaza Hotel, where Gatsby (Robert Redford) and Tom (Bruce Dern) have their climactic confrontation. On the other hand Jack Clayton's adaptation offers several visual pleasures - for example his use of symbolism. There are numerous shots of birds flying away, except for one sequence, where Nick (Sam Waterston) discovers a dead seagull on the seashore near his home. This reminds us of how the protagonists - especially Gatsby and Daisy (Mia Farrow) - are imprisoned by their existences. They might have money, but they cannot fly off like the birds into a new life. The film also includes several shots of Gatsby and Daisy reflected in mirrors, or in the water of the outdoor pool at Gatsby's mansion, drawing attention to the doomed nature of their affair. It is as if they cannot endure the idea of face-to-face contact; when they do get close, they seem ill-at-ease, despite their protestations of love. While Gatsby believes that the past can be recreated, Clayton's film proves otherwise. Redford is strangely muted as Gatsby; he certainly looks the past, especially when photographed alone standing on the jetty against the early evening sky, but he seems reluctant to show Gatsby's passionate nature lurking beneath the civilized veneer. Bruce Dern is quite outstanding as Tom - a thoroughly odious person with scant regard for anyone else's feelings, especially those of his wife. Waterston's Nick acts as the narrator for the entire piece; his delivery of the book's final lines in voice-over is incredibly moving, especially when he contrasts Gatsby's naive hope for the future with Daisy and Tom's "carelessness" (Fitzgerald's phrase). This GATSBY is definitely worth watching as an example of Clayton's meticulously precise style of filmmaking.