I feel like most people’s ability to enjoy The Great Gatsby will depend on how they respond to Baz Luhrmann’s style as a director.  In the interest of full disclosure I should say that I’m a huge Luhrmann fan (I even loved Australia), and I think he was the perfect choice to direct the first truly great adaptation of The Great Gatsby.  He manages to capture the feeling of the book and to make the story compelling in a way that the last attempt at adapting the book, in 1974, failed to do, despite its stellar cast.

Most people are probably familiar with the story, from either high-school or middle-school English classes. Continue reading →