The reviews for Baz Luhrmann’s “The Great Gatsby” are in. And they’re not great. (Get it? “Great?”)
At best, critics say that the movie is great to look at, but lacks substance. At worst, the movie is “dreadful,” “godawful” and “a relentless assault on the senses,” which is pretty bad.
Here are the 10 meanest things critics have written about “The Great Gatsby” — sorry if this changes your weekend plans.
- “This dreadful film even derogates the artistry of Fitzgerald, who wrote ‘The Great Gatsby’ while living on Long Island and in Europe.” Joe Morgenstern, Wall Street Journal
- “[T]he movie leaves you cold and weary and vaguely disgusted, like you’ve just spent a night of debauchery at Gatsby’s mansion, and now the sun is up, and it’s time to fish the cigarette butts and champagne bottles out of the pool.” Connie Ogle, Miami Herald
- “The Great Gatsby, Starring Leonardo DiCaprio, Is a Relentless Assault on the Senses.” Marlow Stern, The Daily Beast
- “…as an attempt to distill the spirit of Fitzgerald’s novel, it’s a near-total failure.” Keith Phipps, NPR
- “At its best — which, sadly, isn’t often enough — Baz Luhrmann’s version of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s novel is a scandal.” Ty Burr, Boston Globe
- “I have to sadly say that while I admire the effort that goes into this, what I’m seeing on that screen is just boring, artificial and godawful.” Peter Travers, Rolling Stone
- “It deserves to be called ‘The’ Gatsby. Just not great.” Richard Corliss, Time
- “Despite timely relevance, enduring truths and Luhrmann’s earnest efforts to make ‘The Great Gatsby’ jump off the screen, he — and we — finally can’t help but fail to grasp it.” Ann Hornaday, Washington Post
- “The movie leaves the sense that, like Gatsby himself, Luhrmann has bought the book without cutting the pages.” Ben Kenigsberg, A.V. Club
- “The Great Gatsby is #Rotten at 42% with 53 reviews. Sorry about that, old sport.” Rotten Tomatoes