The Great Gatsby

Personal response to my favourite film this summer.

Although I do not go to the cinema often, this summer I did go and watch a film I had been really looking forward to, The Great Gatsby. The reason I wanted to see this film so much was mainly due to the fact I adore the 20’s culture, style and music. I also loved the book, written by F. Scott Fitzgerald.

          The story primarily concerns the young and mysterious millionaire Jay Gatsby and his passion for the beautiful Daisy Buchanan. The Great Gatsby explores themes of decadence, idealism, resistance to change, social upheaval, and excess, creating a portrait of the Jazz Age that has been described as a cautionary tale regarding the American Dream.

          The film also attracted me as I liked a lot of the actors and actresses cast in the film, especially Tobey Maguire, Leonardo DiCaprio and Carey Mulligan and feel they portrayed their characters very well.

          The story is based on Nick Carraway, a Yale University graduate and World War I veteran who is staying in a sanatorium to treat his alcoholism. He talks about a man named Gatsby, describing him as the most hopeful man he had ever met. When he struggles to articulate his thoughts, his doctor, Walter Perkins, suggests writing it down, since writing is Nick's true passion. He talks of meeting ‘The Great Gatsby’ and of how he formed an unlikely friendship with his billionaire neighbour, attending all of his extravagant parties and learning of the mysterious man.

          Through all the partying and glamour, Nick learns that Gatsby also has a darker side, and a broken heart, which has more to do with Nick than he may have thought.

          To me, the way this film is visually presented was very good and gave me an exceptional picture of what this story may actually have looked like.

          Although there have been several film and opera adaptations of the book, this version appealed to me most and it was a lot more modernised than others, attracting a younger audience, as well as keeping the traditional 1920’s style and image, which is what fascinated me in the first place.

          On paper The Great Gatsby also did very well, making over $331 million worldwide, with an overall budget of $105 million. This was also director Baz Luhrmann’s highest grossing movie, although he was criticised by certain critics saying ‘Luhrmann is exactly the wrong person to adapt such a delicately rendered story’.

          The film did receive mixed reviews, mainly for not being an ‘accurate’ adaptation of the novel and being too ‘modernised’.

          However I feel that although some of the films criticisms may have truth in them, this adaptation of the film may appeal to a wider, younger and different audience.

          I really enjoyed this film and do not regret paying to watch. I would definitely watch it again, mainly for the style, culture, music and lifestyle portrayed in this movie.

The Lone Ranger

The Lone Ranger is a 2013 remake of the American Western action films. It marks the first theatrical film featuring the Lone Ranger and Tonto characters in more than 30 years.

          Filming suffered with budget and production problems, which at one point, led to a premature cancellation of the film. The film was released in the United States on the 4^th of July 2013. the film received mixed reviews, however negative reviews dominated.

          It was seen as a huge disappointment, grossing 243 million dollars, despite an estimated 225 million dollar budget.

          On the 12^th August 2011, Disney announced that production on The Lone Ranger would be delayed due to budget concerns. After addressing the project’s production problems in October 2011, Disney confirmed that the film was back on track after the budget was reworked to give the studio a chance to recoup its costs. Initially, filming was reported to begin on the 6^th February 2012 and the film was given a release date of the 31^st may 2013 which subsequently was moved to the 4^th of July.

          As a result of the production setbacks, The Lone Ranger faced numerous changes in release dates. After underperforming during its opening weekend, the film was characterised by numerous media sources as a box office flop.

          Compared to Despicable Me 2, a film that opened the same weekend to 142 million dollars on a 76 million dollar budget, The Lone Ranger made just under a third of that, 48.9 million dollars, and had more than three times the budget, 215 million dollars.

          Along with the production and budgeting problems, the film also received generally unfavourable reviews.

Called “a jumbled botch that is so confused in its purpose and so charmless in its effect that it must be seen to be believed, but better yet, no. Don’t see it. Don’t believe it” and also described as a “bloated, misshapen mess. A stillborn franchise loaded with metaphors for its feeble attempts to amuse, excite and entertain.”

          The specific reason for the flop of The Lone Ranger cannot be determined, however the production, planning, timing, budgeting and critics opinions all factor in to why this film is considered by many, a box office failure.

In my opinion, the costs of the film are the largest factor as to why this film was not as successful as planned. Although the film made a large turnover, the costs of the production outweighed the cost made. If, like other films released at a similar time, The Lone Ranger had budgeted better then perhaps it wouldn’t have been as scrutinised by not only the critics, but the public as well.

Although the majority of people consider this film to be a ‘flop’ and ‘failure’, The Lone Ranger has definitely not been a disappointment to all, which is clear by the amount the film made, regardless of the overall costs.