4 Things We Learned From The Trailer For The Great Gatsby
1. Isla Fisher is apparently a serious actress.
Not that her track record from Confessions of a Shopaholic and Horton Hears a Who! didn’t have us convinced that she was worthy of playing what may be one of the most iconic roles in American literature, but casting her as Myrtle wasn’t exactly an obvious choice. (Just for contrast’s sake, her other movie being released this winter is a Disney film in which she plays the Tooth Fairy.) Are we sure Baz Luhrmann didn’t accidentally think she was Amy Adams? You can’t really blame him; we’re all guilty of that mistake.
2. We’re really going to have to ignore flashbacks to Spider-Man in order to enjoy Tobey Maguire’s narration.
Although, when you think about it, Peter Parker and Nick Carraway aren’t entirely dissimilar: both are somewhat loser-ish everymen to whom the audience must guiltily pay attention while other characters lead almost unrealistically fascinating lives. (It’s the same thing with Craig Sheffer in A River Runs Through It. Like, who cares? Your brother is Brad Pitt.) This unsettling comparison aside, that obviously put-on, dry, pseudo-cute voiceover has got to go. It doesn’t really affect you upon first viewing, but on the second time it’s hard not to notice a similarity. We can’t get distracted and start thinking that Gatsby is going to ditch Daisy for Mary Jane Watson, or, worse yet, that we’re facing a dismal musical adaptation of The Great Gatsby.
3. Leonardo DiCaprio is finally fulfilling his place as this generation’s replacement for Robert Redford.
Now that this trend has gotten off to such an illustrious start, the string of unapologetically nostalgic remakes can begin. An avant-garde enough reinterpretation of Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid would almost be guaranteed a spot at the film festival that bears its name, and a less landscape-focused, moderately abridged treatment of Out of Africa would be useful. If Isla Fisher really stays on top of her game, she might even be able to take over Jane Fonda’s role in Barefoot in the Park. In the new version of The Way We Were, however, there will be no replacement in the role of Katie Morosky: Streisand stays.
4. Hip hop is the new soundtrack to 3D screen adaptations of masterpieces of modern literature.
It’s the 21st century, people. These are the sorts of stylistic innovations we’re going to have to get used to. I don’t know about you, but I’m personally stoked about a 3D version of The Sun Also Rises with music by Nicki Minaj.