I watched the DVD of the Robert Redford/Mia Farrow version of The Great Gatsby on the laptop to kill time during an airline flight last month--but instead, it had the reverse effect. I think Tom Wolfe (piqued at the unauthorized usurpation of his trademark white suit by Redford's Gatsby) once dismissed the movie as "Fitzgerald as interpreted by the Garment District", and while the film did put Ralph Lauren on the map, most of the duds the actors are wearing, with their fat ties and wide lapels, seem much more 1970s than 1920s.
But that's the least of Gatsby's problems. I can't quite figure out if Mia Farrow works or not, but Redford, who's far too cinematically pretty to play the self-made Gatsby, and who sort of sleepwalks through his role, seems wildly miscast. As does Bruce Dern, who can't escape his Roger Corman-era psycho biker roles (his Freeman Lowell in Silent Running was merely an interstellar variation on that persona).
But what really sinks Gatsby is a self-conscious pacing that makes Stanley Kubrick's stately Barry Lyndon seem like an MTV video in comparison. That's also the same problem that plagues 1976's The Last Tycoon, Elia Kazan's last movie, with a young Robert DeNiro in a thinly disguised portrayal as doomed Hollywood wunderkind Irving Thalberg.
So will there ever be a decent cinematic Fitzgerald? This article on the various cinematic portrayals of Gatsby says don't bet on it.
And as the made for TV version of Gatsby a few years ago demonstrated, attempting to film Fitzgerald these days presents an additional problem.
(Originally published on Ed Driscoll.com.)
Article comments
1 - LegendaryMonkey
Your "additional problem" point is interesting, and something I hadn't thought about, but it makes perfect sense... and is probably a lot of the reason why older men are still so successful in Hollywood -- they're the only ones who look grown!
2 - Alisha Karabinus
Ah, geez. I forgot to switch from monkey-hood.
3 - GoHah
I guess I won't hold my breath. Thanks for an entertaining review--I especially like your take on Bruce Dern's psycho-biker trappings.
4 - Tan The Man
It wasn't THAT bad, but the main problem is the differing interpretations that can be made about the book. It's a love it-or-hate it book and for a film adaptation, you have to look at it the same way.
5 - Victor Lana
You got it right, Ed. Great literature is not always translated well to film (think "The Sound and the Fury" and "The Sun Also Rises" as other movie disasters).
Besides poor casting, it's just inevitable that the cinematic and the literary are different species. Yes, film sometimes gets it right ("Lord of the Rings" and "The Godfather" are examples), but many times the more literary the book, the less opportunity for cinematic success.
6 - Temple Stark
The section editor chose this as a pick of the week. Go HERE to find out why.
Also, as a part of being a pick you get to make a pick of your own for anytime from Dec. 3 on. Click the same HERE link to find out how.
Thank you.
Temple