After reading the Great Gatsby last summer, I really enjoyed it. The themes were powerful, the characters were compelling, and the plot was really well thought out. I really recommend it if you haven't read it as a freshman year novel study. Now, I thought Leonardo DiCaprio is the perfect choice for Gatsby, he is a great actor that really has the range to take on the role. However, the writing makes what made Gatsby endearing, awkward and homo erotic, and somewhat mentally handicapped. Tobey Maguire does a fine job as Nick Carraway, and Joel Edgerton does well as Tom Buchanan. Yet, the real letdown for me was Carey Mulligan as Daisy. No one wants to see a weak female character, well at least I don't. She does OK performance wise but, yet again she was written awkwardly. It makes her unlikable, plain and simple, you want her to die at the end, not Gatsby. I have to admit, I'm not a fan of Baz Luhrman's directing. I have not seen Moulin Rouge, but I do not want to, mostly because his 'modern twists' are a major distraction to the time period the theme is supposed to be set in. I kept hearing mellowed down pop songs. However, the one thing that he gets right are the visuals, this film is visually stunning, which is the best thing I can say about an adaption of such a compelling novel as the Great Gatsby. If you want a more rewarding experience-read the book.