Every Day May 2013: A Night with Gatsby

So, last night was a night we'd been anticipating for over a year!  I actually talked about it LAST Every Day May! (here)  Some of the other Language Arts teachers from Bryce's school organized a little group to go see it the night before it opened... I'm not entirely sure how it works when the theatre shows it at 10pm the day before it comes out, but whatever, I was just glad to not have to see it at midnight!!

We got a babysitter, got dressed up, me in my fanciest party dress and Bryce in his pink blazer, to honor Gatsby, since he doesn't fit into his pink suit anymore... (yes, he has a pink suit!) and we went to see the movie.  I'll start by saying that Bryce went in with really LOW expectations.  He'd been keeping himself cautiously optimistic this whole time waiting for the movie to come out.  While I don't have such a strong opinion on the text, I did have some reservations about the movie before seeing it, namely the music and Tobey Maguire.

I'll admit I got very nervous when, not even 30 seconds into the movie, Bryce sighed and said "that's not right, that's not what he says" about the opening speech.  The sad part was, even I knew that the words were not what was said in the book.  You see, Bryce can probably quote (from memory) the first chapter of Gatsby... and he's recited it so many times over the years that I know bits and pieces of it now too.  I just started laughing at his comment, this could be a long two hours...

I am pleased to report that when the movie ended we both smiled and said we liked it.  Bryce, of course, said "it was better than I expected" (however, to be honest, he wasn't expecting much) - and he stated that "it wasn't blatantly offensive" because they didn't do things to the text or story that hurt him (haha, yes he takes this THAT seriously!)  He said, overall, the script was very true to the text.  He did still contend that Redford is a better Gatsby.

As for me, my favorite parts were the big reveal of Gatsby and the scene when Gatsby and Daisy first meet again.  As for the music and Tobey Maguire, I didn't hate either of them the way I thought I would!  Both of us agreed we would see the movie again if the opportunity presented itself and we went home feeling pleased with the enjoyable date night we'd just had!

So, there it is a brief review of The Great Gatsby from the Brimhalls... if you want a more detailed critique (which I'm sure he'd love to give) let me know in the comments and I'll have Bryce write up a little something!