I thought this new version of The Great Gatsby was wonderful – I loved the costumes, the cinematography, the jewelry, the sets, even the melodrama of it all.  But there seemed to be something lacking… and I think that was mainly the chemistry between Daisy (Carey Mulligan) and Gatsby (Leonardo DiCaprio).  Both were fantastic separately – but together they kind of lacked that heat to make the whole premise 100% believable.  We’re left with kind of that empty, shallowness that Daisy embodied.  More style than substance.

Maybe it was having Leo in the lead, he seemed a little more crazy than just crazy in love.  We’ve seen Leo in these crazy guy parts before, like Howard Hughes, so it’s easy for him to fall into that mold.  I remember Robert Redford in the same part as more grounded, less desperate.

I saw the Robert Redford/Mia Farrow version of The Great Gatsby way back when, and I’d like to revisit that one now to compare the two.

Worth seeing.  I think it will get nominations in hair, make-up, costumes, art direction and the like.