The Best (and Worst) Movie Posters of 2013

So, it's time. Which movie poster will join the ranks of The American, Funny Games and The Master as my choice for the year's best? It's always fun to look at how trends in movie poster design emerge and evolve, but a fairly unsettling one surfaced in 2013. This shouldn't come as a surprise since we've been building toward it for a while now, but it's impossible not to notice how few mainstream movie posters warranted mention or even runner-up status on anything other than a WORST list. Just scrolling up and down the page, you'll see a shocking amount of titles most of the general ticket-buying public have never heard of, much less seen. And that's definitely not their fault.

More money on the line frequently means a studio is less likely to take the risk accompanied with hiring an artist or experienced creative mind to handle the print advertising for their film. The result is a bunch of suits deciding what we want as a marketing committee airbrushes and photoshops performers' heads and bodies to the point of unrecognizability. The notion that posters just ain't what they used to be was recently touched on by Movie Geeks United co-host Dean Treadway on the show and in his must view 200 Favorite Movie Posters list on Filmicability, which provides valuable insight into what makes for a truly great print, citing some terrific examples that span the decades. I'd agree that poster art has turned the corner in over the past few years, provided you know where to look. The best ones make it impossible to divorce yourself from the experience of watching the movie every time you lay eyes on them. And yes, many have made a difference in nudging me toward titles I never would have checked out otherwise. The choices below hopefully represent the cream of the crop, along with some others that are unfortunately scraping the bottom of the barrel.

 

The Best...



10. Diana

Okay, so the movie was supposedly pretty terrible. But I wouldn't blame anyone for being excited for a Princess Di biopic based based on this simple,stark poster that makes great use of negative space while doing something creatively interesting with its placement of title and credits. In this case, showing Naomi Watts from a distance and even kind of downplaying her star value might be a positive since we all know the actress's physical resemblance to the late Princess of Whales is minimal at best. But here, from this angle, in that pose, she's her double. Based on this classy image, if I didn't know any better, I'd think this movie does for Diana what Gandhi did for Gandhi. False advertising? Probably. Smart advertising? Absolutely.


9. Salinger

In case you didn't hear, JD Salinger was a pedophile who was once married to a Nazi.  At least that's according to Shane Salerno's much maligned documentary that treats rare sightings of the late, reclusive author with the bombast of a Discovery special on Bigfoot. Everything turns out to be info you wish you could unhear, and while the sensationalistic presentation seems to be the very antithesis of what the author stood for in his work, this poster isn't. Yes, it was probably easy to design. Yes, it's obvious. And yes, it's plagiarism (insert sound of author rolling in his grave). But what's most surprising is that they were smart enough to do it. There couldn't have possibly been a cleaner, more respectful design for the film, which of course is a cruel irony considering the treatment of its subject. Salinger would have a good laugh at this. Before suing them. 



8. Computer Chess

This low-budget, 80's set satire depicting a chess tournament pitting nerdy computer programmers against each another wasn't the easiest watch for me, despite it being frequently heralded as one of the year's best. But I love this U.K. quad poster, which was designed by Atari 2600 cover artist Cliff Spohn. The man responsible for the classic box art for Asteroids, Defender and Video Chess actually came out of retirement to design this and it's hard to argue it wasn't worth it. Poster art doesn't get much better than this. Chalk it up as another win in the column for hand drawn illustration. It almost makes me want to revisit the film in hopes that I'll be proven wrong and see something that even slightly resembles the greatness hinted at in this design. The movie is different and one-of-a-kind. I'll give it that. But the poster? Even more so.


 
7. Short Term 12

So many questions. Where's the kid going? Why is he draped in an American flag cape? Why is he screaming? Who are these people chasing him? A poster is supposed to tease and you want to find out more. I kind of know the answers to a couple of these just based on reviews and write-ups but now it apparently must be seen (as if the presence of the always awesome Brie Larson wasn't already enough). Grabbing images from the film or capturing characters in motion have resulted in some real disasters (just see worst list below) but this print is basically a clinic on how it can be done right. From the yellowish filter used, to the positioning, size and font of the title, to the screaming kid coming right at us, this is a winner all-around. And I do like that effect of the title being blinded out by the sky. There were also some impressive illustrated prints for the movie, but this easily takes it. Quietly one of the best reviewed movies of the year, you definitely feel every bit of that promise bursting through here.



6. Afternoon Delight

This little seen indie made some waves when Quentin Tarantino revealed it as his favorite film of 2013 back in October. While the verdict's still out on that, I can at least get on board with its poster, which easily amongst the most eye-catching. You just can't go wrong with neon. If there were an alternate neon version of every poster I wouldn't complain, but this is a reminder that it really only works as a novelty that can best be appreciated under the right circumstances. Bringing in a stripper to spice up your marriage qualifies. This has been done better before, but there's no denying this is top notch work, sparking interest in a movie where there would have been none.  



5. Nebraska

The most predictable entry on this list is no less effective because of it. It's a simple, haunting silouette of Bruce Dern that tells us exactly what the movie's about, while simultaneously revealing nothing. While it remains to be seen whether this can be said for the film itself, if this were done in color it just wouldn't have carried nearly the same impact. I also really like the 70's style credit presentation on the bottom, which is fitting considering everything we've heard about the character-based, throwback style of Alexander Payne's latest. The design is so simple that it's a wonder there aren't more posters like it. But that's probably a good thing since it only makes this layout seem that much more unique and inspired.



4. Rewind This!

Appropriately, the influence of old school, hand drawn posters are on full display with a one-sheet that would look great in anyone's den. I'd tell you this is documentary about about the impact of VHS and home video, but it's not even necessary. This design tells you all that and more. This "kitchen sink" 80's throwback approach doesn't always work and has honestly been a bit overused of late, but when it's called for, as it is here, few styles can match it. Besides the art work being quite a few notches above what we'd expect and the illustrated design style matching the time period and subject being covered, it just looks immensely cool. Anyone longing to be transported to the '80's when videocassettes ruled the day needn't look any further. Also love the retro futuristic font style of the title. Whoever this unknown artist is really nailed it.

  
3. Évocateur: The Morton Downey Jr. Movie

One of the big highlights of Évocateur: The Morton Downey Jr. Movie are cleverly animated vignettes that  randomly appear during the documentary, which profiles the rise and fall of the controversial eighties talk show host. What you see above is that animation in all it's glory. The film makes a damn good case that he's the forefather of trash TV and a precursor to the Glenn Becks and Jerry Springers with footage that's shocking even by today's standards. Brash, obnoxious and in-your-face, there's no better image that encapsulates the loudmouth who briefly turned TV upside down with his confrontational antics. It's the only poster on this list that's actually kind of scary, presenting a caricature that certainly doesn't veer far from reality. The use of the red, white and blue for the titles is brilliant and unnerving. Yes, it kind of recalls Pink Floyd The Wall poster but not nearly enough to claim it's doing any more than paying tribute. When did documentary posters get this good?


 
2. Escape From Tomorrow

Lawyer up. If it wasn't enough that filmmaker Randy Moore covertly (and illegally) shot a black-and- white horror movie on handheld cameras and iPhones at Disneyland and Disney World, the poster basically rubs the company's noses in it with an image that defaces the company's historic iconography. Disney did the right thing by ignoring it, as a long, drawn out legal battle would have just brought more attention to the film while making them look like bullies. As a result, the movie flew under the radar and kind of faded away. But this poster never will. It's basically a masterpiece in promotional design and I still can't believe they got away with it. Using Mickey's hand and even cribbing the classic Disney font. Talk about asking for trouble. The colors and details here are tremendous enough that this would be able to fool anyone into thinking that Disney's branching into R-rated horror. And yet it's so clean and simple, with a tagline that absolutely kills. "Bad Things Happen Everywhere."  No wonder this is going for big bucks on eBay. It's worth every penny.



1. Spring Breakers

As divisive and polarizing a film as Harmony Korine's Spring Breakers was, it seemed the one thing everyone could agree on was that it was one of the most beautifully shot movies of the year. Even those who considered it a piece of trash (and many did) at least had to respect the technical expertise that went into it and admit cinematographer Benoit Debie is owed an Oscar nomination for the neon colored nightmare he engulfs viewers in. At the start of the year a top contender for my favorite poster would have been that first creepy Spring Breakers teaser you see below. Then I saw this. Again, grabbing a screenshot and plastering it on a poster is problematic in most cases, but this isn't most cases. Alien's oceanside serenade to the girls is undeniably the defining visual moment of the film, coming during what's easily the most memorable sequence. That the marketing team had the wherewithal to know that and use it on the poster is impressive enough, but it's really the colors and the Ralph Steadman style title font that takes this to the next level. You don't see typography like that every day, but it fits perfectly here. Talk about the replicating the experience of watching the movie. This is the movie. All of it. Captured perfectly in a single, unforgettable image.

Runners-Up...

And The Worst...

Well, that didn't take long. Riding high after last year's Silver Linings comeback, DeNiro's back at it again, cashing those checks. But look how many big names he's dragged along with him this time (though Heigl probably deserves it). And, hey, doesn't this Robin Williams role look familiar? Amanda Seyfried's expression is priceless and accurate: "Get Me Out of Here."

                                Coming soon to V.O.D. and Redbox. A movie. Starring three airbrushed people.With a happy ending.

You're marketing a movie called The Lifeguard starring Kristen Bell and your only job is to place a photo of the actress in a swimsuit on the poster. And you mess it up! You'd never know from the above image, but the movie isn't a romantic comedy and nowhere near this sunny and cheerful.

An attempt to go artsy and minimalistic goes haywire with this design as that thing hangs helplessly in the air. If not for the title I wouldn't be able to properly identify this as a little girl and figuring out she was on a swing took even longer. Whatever it is, it sure doesn't look comfortable. As if "From The Producers of The Kids Are All Right" wasn't enough of a warning to keep me away. 

                                                            Well, you can't say the title isn't oddly appropriate. Love that tagline.

How fitting is this? It's as if Stallone and DeNiro each realized their posters are so bad separately that they'll combine forces to really give us the worst imaginable. While it's not quite THAT bad and some of the alternates for this are actually pretty decent, this is still embarrassing. And what's with all that text? 

It was tough choosing exactly which character poster from The Incredible Burt Wonderstone was (un)worthy of placement here. I'm kidding. I immediately picked Alan Arkin's. Just look at it. It's Alan Arkin. As a magician. Named Rance Halloway. I kind of want to see this now.

Fred Claus, Four Christmases, Couples Retreat, The Dilemma, Lay The Favorite, Delivery Man, The Internship. You'd have this expression too.

Finally, one of 1999's lowest grossing, action packed thrillers arrives on DVD and VHS. Paranoia is available for a limited time only at participating Best Buy locations for the bargain bin price of $2.99. Act now and you'll receive this free theatrical poster, which features the first image of TRON 3.0, starring Liam Hemsworth.  

Maybe the sloppiest, laziest poster of the year. And that's saying something. At least the ones above are interestingly bad in a fun way. Nothing of the sort is true about this. Glum and poorly realized in both idea and execution, it's bland enough on its own that photoshopping the three additional actors in there seems like excessive punishment.  

What's sad about this is that Iron Man 3 is surprisingly entertaining. It deserved a really good poster. Instead, it predictably got the treatment every other Marvel film does. I actually even prefer this instead.

See above. But far worse. Just look how much is going on here, and yet it's still impossible to make out any of it. If i didn't know better. Is this a parody of a superhero movie?

What do you get when you combine the posters of Iron Man and Transformers? Apparently this one for Pacific Rim. There were so many bad ones for this that they were basically interchangeable. All these summer blockbuster posters look exactly the same. Same colors. Same title font. Same explosions. I'm convinced there's just one guy sitting in an office somewhere designing these for every studio.

poster images via impawards.com

The Place Beyond The Pines

Director: Derek Cianfrance
Starring: Ryan Gosling, Bradley Cooper, Eva Mendes, Ray Liotta, Ben Mendelsohn, Rose Byrne, Dane DeHaan, Emory Cohen, Mahershala Ali, Bruce Greenwood, Harris Yulin
Running Time: 140 min.
Rating: R  

★★★★ (out of ★★★★)

                             **Spoiler Warning: This Review Reveals Major Plot Points**  

Almost halfway through The Place Beyond the Pines a title card appears on the screen that reads: 15 YEARS LATER. It's certainly not the first instance of a massive time jump during a film, but what makes this different is the anticipation level. I can't recall a time where I ever wanted to know more about the events that would follow that title screen, as my heart was practically pounding out of my chest. What director and co-writer Derek Cianfrance accomplishes in his sophomore feature is what most filmmakers aspire to get right. Unlike anything released in the past year, it's wildly ambitious and uncompromising, spinning a multi-generational epic that seems destined for cult classic status, if not greater. For almost two and a half hours it remains tight, focused, and unfussy even as tells three intrinsically connected stories that somehow isn't based on a published novel or true crime story, despite feeling so every step of the way.

I've gone back and forth on whether to reveal the big plot point at the movie's crux and determined it's necessary in fully explaining the film's tragic pull. If you don't want to know, it's best you STOP READING NOW and return after you've seen it. While the development is undeniably a shocker, the plot development cuts deeper far than that, exceeding a simple "twist.". Killing the protagonist off halfway through the picture is brave, and while it's been successfully accomplished before, it's impossible to name an instance involving not only this huge a star, but the actor being sold as the face of the picture. Of course, that creative decision alone isn't necessarily worthy of praise. There has to be something to it and it must be a narrative necessity.

Here, the main character perishes because his reckless lifestyle and behavior was bound to eventually lead him there. And also because he has to. This is a film that understands consequences and how decisions and actions reverberate beyond those who are immediately affected to sometimes cross over generations. In this case, from fathers to sons. It's interested in the consequences of death and what that means to those left to pick up the pieces. So, yes, the protagonist is killed off an hour in, but for the remaining time it never once feels like he's gone. It's only through death that the character ends up pushing the story into a far larger context that wouldn't otherwise be possible.

Ryan Gosling is motorcycle stunt rider Luke Glanton, who travels the country performing in circuses without ever really laying down roots anywhere. His latest stop is Schnechtady, New York, where he reconnects with single mother Romina (Eva Mendes), a waitress worn out and beaten down by life. They previously had a fling and now he's discovered her baby boy, Jason, is his. Despite her moving on with boyfriend Kofi (Mahershala Ali), Luke's determined to stick around town to do the right thing and help provide for his son. He takes a job with local auto repair shop owner Robin (Ben Mendolsohn) but his minimum wage salary isn't cutting it, leading the two to pair up and successfully rob some banks in the area.

It isn't long before Luke's worst tendencies grab hold, with his volatile temper threatening to keep him  from his son and his daredevil desire to hit more banks increasing. Robin warns him, "If you ride like thunder, you're gonna crash like lightning." He ends up being right, as Luke's recklessness sets him on a collision course with Officer Avery Cross (Bradley Cooper), creating a situation where only one can escape alive.

The opening hour just might contain the best work Gosling's ever done, which is scary when you consider the ground that covers within the past few years and the fact it's actually a SUPPORTING performance. That it can be said with absolute confidence that the character he creates is as instantly iconic as his unnamed getaway driver in Drive is no small praise, especially considering the surface similarities between the two. We know we're in for something special from the film's sensational opening sequence, as the camera follows Luke from behind into the carnival arena like a cage fighter entering the octagon. He puts on his signature ripped Metallica shirt, which, as James Franco pointed out, already seems like Gosling's new scorpion jacket. And I completely agree with Franco that the character ascends to and owns rebel status within minutes of appearing, before even speaking a word of dialogue.

Luke's an adrenaline junkie who can't control his lapses of slow, simmering rage, but he's also trying to do the right thing and be there for his son in a way he claims his father wasn't for him. It's a sadly prophetic desire, as the harder he tries to do the right thing, the deeper a hole he digs for himself doing wrong. He's doomed and doesn't even know it, pushing for reconciliation with Romina that can't possibly happen regardless of whether a child is in the equation or not. And the more it can't happen, the more he pushes. Boundaries don't exist for Luke, on a bike or in life.

His boss Robin makes the mistake of dangling the carrot of criminality in front of the last type of personality who can handle it. Ben Mendelsohn specializes in playing low-life creeps. At first glance it seems as if Robin is exactly that, but he's not. I love that Mendelsohn plays him as essentially a good guy who went down the wrong path and now just seems bored to tears. He comes across as more of a benevolent mentor and friend than corrupting influence, even if a strong argument can still be made for the latter. When he realizes the monster he's awakened in Luke, he lazily tries to stop it but can't even really muster enough energy to do that. It's too late anyway. There could be a whole other movie about just Robin and I wouldn't complain, but the performance deems it unnecessary, giving us everything we need about his character while withholding what we don't.

When these two are flying high together, so is the film, as the entire opening hour is an addictive rush, filled with images, quotable lines and events destined to burn into my consciousness with Mike Patton's mesmerizing score as the soundtrack. Cianfrance really engulfs the viewer and while this is unquestionably a heightened depiction of Schenectady, accentuating both the city's positive and negative attributes, it's far from an inaccurate one considering it was actually filmed on location. From the few who have seen this, the biggest criticism has been that it suffers after Gosling exits, with the last two thirds of the picture paling in comparison to the first. But I'd argue Luke Glanton's legend only grows after his departure, infusing the rest of the story a larger scope and even greater momentum as everyone is left to pick up the pieces of the damage he's left.

The Bradley Cooper section of the saga is every bit as gripping, while still continuing and finishing what was started. While Officer Avery Cross gets his man and is justifiably hailed by the media as a hero for taking out Luke, it's not that simple. Besides being treated like garbage by his superior and fellow officers, his career's essentially over due to the shootout. That his wife Jennifer (Rose Byrne) and father Al (Harris Yulin) never wanted him to be a cop in the first place is only salt in the wound. But Avery's hardest on himself, wracked with guilt over the fact that he killed a boy's father, emotionally paralyzing him to the point that he can't even look at his own baby boy.

Anyone still doubting last year's discovery of Cooper as a major acting talent or writing it off as just lucking into the right part, should take a look at what he does here, with his most complicated role yet. What's so pitiful about Avery is that, despite the mildly controversial details involving the shooting, he really is a hero who was forced to take the action he did. Cooper plays him at first as kind of a dim bulb, until we slowly realize, with his back against the wall, that he's actually very smart and cunning. He's forced to
be.

Ray Liotta has played a lot of corrupt scumbags in his career but his Peter Deluca just might take the cake. It's a compliment to him that it's hard to think of a more recent movie character I've hated more. I hated the condescending way he talked to Avery. I hated the way he talked to Avery's wife even more. I hated his greediness. Every time this guy speaks it's infuriating, which is exactly what a great villain who gets under your skin should do. Cianfrance takes the well worn plot mechanism of police corruption and makes it fresh and gripping, raising it to the level of Greek tragedy in terms of how it affects all involved, especially those on the periphery.

That Gosling and Cooper never share a scene together and yet the film somehow still feels like their two and a half hour grudge match is a testament speaks not only to their performances, but the rich characterization provided by the script. There's this faint undercurrent running throughout that if Luke and Avery hadn't been on opposite sides of the law then they could have possibly gotten along under different circumstances. That hunch is confirmed in the third act, culminating in a final showdown that can only occur through their sons. And both are very much their father's sons and a product of those events 15 years earlier.

Try as his mother might to keep it from him, you could see how a teen Jason (Dane DeHaan) would want to eventually learn what he could about his biological father. And you could also see how when he finds out about his dad's infamous "motobike bandit," past, that he'd find it really cool and want to know more. At an age where nothing makes sense and there's very little sense of identity, that's a big thing. And it makes sense that path would have to cross with Avery's son, AJ (Emory Cohen). It's not a contrivance. Just a tightly constructed story having its last screw turned. And what a final act it is. It's here where the highly ambitious three-act structure starts to make a lot more sense and all the cards fall into place

Thanks to DeHaan and Cohen's powerfully believable turns there's never any doubt they're the sons of these men despite the lack of any noticeable physical resemblance.DeHaan plays Jason as a sad, quite loner with a short temper while Cohen's AJ has a huge chip on his shoulder, appearing at first to be every bit the thug you'd expect given the years of neglect from his dad. Like their fathers, they're much more alike than different, as both actors transcend those one line descriptions to deliver something deeper and more meaningful. They're also headed for a collision course, finishing the business their dads started, whether they know it or not.

That storytelling this ambitious and expansive could be accomplished on a relatively small budget isn't all that surprising when you consider the ingenuity of the director behind it. Cianfrance's previous collaboration with Gosling, Blue Valentine, stands as one of the few recent films that's grown substantially in stature for me since I first viewed it.  It's a bit more free flowing and messier than this, but contains the same general thematic framework of damaged people as products of unstable families. He just understands what makes his characters tick and knows how to present it onscreen in the most insightful, realistic way possible.

Repeat viewings could easily present the already gripping first hour in a new light knowing what eventually follows. Much like what Affleck did with Boston, Cianfrance turns Schenectady into his personal wasteland of corruption and immorality, where the setting informs the film as much as its characters. If merely the thought of recasting the roles didn't seem to border on sacrilege, there's enough depth and richness here to sustain a long-running television series, with writing and directing that can actually match what we've been seeing now in that medium. With as much ground as this covers, it still even feels like there's more. The Place Beyond The Pines is an epic crime drama that isn't about crime, reminding us that the best ones rarely are.         

The Great Gatsby

Director: Baz Luhrmann
Starring: Leonardo DiCaprio, Tobey Maguire, Carey Mulligan, Joel Edgerton, Isla Fisher, Jason Clarke, Elizabeth Debicki, Amitabh Bachchan, Jack Thompson, Adelaide Clemens
Running Time: 142 min.
Rating: PG-13

★★★ ½ (out of ★★★★)

The pressure and expectations that accompany adapting a classic novel for the big screen can be overwhelming. Unless, of course, it was already poorly adapted. Such is the case with F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby, which already spawned a 1974 version starring Robert Redford and Mia Farrow lifeless enough to double as an insomnia cure. One thing you can't call Baz Luhrmann's 2013 take is "lifeless," but considering he's the director of Romeo + Juliet and Moulin Rouge, we could have easily guessed that going in. My reasoning for including it in the runners-up section of the year's most anticipated films had less to do with the fact that I suspected it would be any good (though the potential was there) and more to do with it's potential as an entertaining train wreck with some memorable performances. He specializes in those, each resulting in varying degrees of creative success.

The big surprise is that this is far from a train wreck. It isn't crazy. It's a faithful, respectful re-telling of the original story that fulfills most of the expectations associated with our idea of the quintessential adaptation. In fact, the craziest thing about it is the title character, or rather the mesmerizing, off-kilter, over-the-top performance given by the actor playing him. And yet it feels right in this context. Not only does the movie look tremendous, but the story is absorbing and heartbreaking, working in tandem with the visuals to create a surprisingly rich and rewarding movie experience. Audiences loved it while critics were more mixed, but I'm siding with the former. There's an uncertain first hour, and a bit too much narration for my taste, but the payoff is sensational. Simply put, it's a great film that deserves a spot in the upper echelon of recent cinematic literary adaptations.

In just about the only change from the novel, Yale University grad, World War I vet and failed writer Nick Carraway (Tobey Maguire) pens his story in a sanatorium where he's being treated for alcoholism. It was the summer of 1922 when he moved from the Mid West to New York to take a job selling bonds and taking up residence in West Egg, Long Island. His neighbor is the elusive, enigmatic Jay Gatsby (Leonardo DiCaprio), a mysterious millionaire who throws lavish parties at his extravagant mansion. Confused by his recent invitation to one and taken aback by Gatsby's sudden interest in him, it soon becomes clear to Nick that his true interest is really in his cousin, Daisy Buchanan (Carey Mulligan), with whom he had a love affair five years prior. He's only thrown these parties with the hope she'd one day show up. Nick reconnects them, with the only problem being that she's married to philandering, brutish polo champion Tom Buchanan (Joel Edgerton). He's determined to unravel the mystery of Gatsby before it's too late and he loses his wife for good.

The biggest fear I had approaching this was that Luhrmann would use Fitzgerald's novel as a launching pad for a feature length music video or a rough outline for contemporizing it without having to face the backlash of actually contemporizing it. I fully expected this would primarily be a visual feast, with characters served up as appetizers to sell soundtracks. As it turns out, neither comes to pass. While the parties are a crazy visual spectacle employing elaborate use of CGI, over-the-top sets, quick cuts, and contemporary music, it's not a distraction and dovetails surprisingly well with the time period and story. If anything, it's more restrained than we were led to believe from the trailers, and while Jay-Z provides the score and Lana Del Ray an original song, nothing necessarily calls attention to that or takes us out of the period setting. Those concerns are only further squashed when we meet Gatsby, the buildup of which is given the satisfying mystery it deserves, proving that the story does really come first here. The slow, steady introduction of the mysterious Gatsby amongst rumors he's a spy and other far out rumors regarding his past, is the film's ace in the hole. And it's a credit to the script and DiCaprio's charismatic performance that those mysteries never feel fully disclosed even when they eventually are.

The film doesn't really begin until Gatby shows up and he knows how to make an entrance. DiCaprio just owns this from his very first scene, using the character's playboy persona to mask his massive insecurity. The brilliance in his portrayal comes when he subtly gives signs that he may not necessarily be in love with Daisy as much as he's obsessed with holding on to her and the past. That he's been throwing these lavish parties for years with only the hope she'll eventually show is almost proof enough. And when Gatsby eventually starts to crack, we still side with him because he remains so likable and relatable despite the extravagant lifestyle he leads. DiCaprio makes it easy for us to understand how, given his background and personality, the character would behave like this.

At first, Gatsby's using Nick to get to Daisy but the irony ends up being that the bond that forms between the two men might be the only real connection that's forged in the story. Nick's using him too, realizing his cousin is his free pass into a privileged world he may not have otherwise had access to. But because both are so honest and upfront about their intentions a true friendship is eventually formed and it's only toward the end, when all the leaches sucking off Gatsby's wealth have abandoned him, that we realize it's likely Nick was the only friend he's ever had.

Maguire makes for the perfect Nick Carraway since the actor's biggest selling qualities have always been his naivete and wide-eyed amazement at what's happening around him. He's the ideal vessel for the audience in that he's the rare reliable narrator who actually does seem reliable. We believe every word he's saying, even if one of the script's few flaws is that he's probably given too many of them, as the characters' actions are more than suitable in carrying the load. It had to help that DiCaprio and Maguire are in reality very good friends, and it's a credit to them that viewers would probably be able to guess that watching them interact on screen together.

Those expecting Carey Mulligan to make for an unforgettable Daisy should probably consider that the character has always been kind of a cipher or blank slate for Gatsby to project all of his obsessions onto. Even in the book that seemed to be her very specific function so there's really only so much an actress can do with that and Mulligan delivers exactly what's asked of her, but little more. Daisy isn't exactly a woman of agency but it's easy to imagine other rumored candidates for the role like Natalie Portman and Scarlett Johansson having a much rougher time with it than Mulligan, who possesses a certain type of innocence onscreen that they rarely convey.

Stealing most scenes is newcomer Elizabeth Debicki, who as golf pro and potential Nick love interest, Jordan Baker, nails the period look, manner and way of speaking to the extent that she not only draws attention to herself, but shines the spotlight on her castmates as well. Joel Edgerton gains a surprising amount of empathy for the brutish Tom Buchanan, as his third act verbal showdown with DiCaprio ends up being one of the film's strongest sequences. Rounding out the cast is Isla Fisher as Tom's mistress Myrtle and Jason Clarke as husband George, whose residence in the industrial "valley of ashes," is sensationally visualized by Luhrmann, even incorporating the novel's iconic paperback cover within the setting in an inventive touch.

We shouldn't look a gift horse in the mouth as this is as good an adaptation of the source material as we're going to get, or was even possible. It's almost mind boggling that the reaction has been so divisive when Luhrmann stayed so relatively true to the original text. If anything, he could have taken more creative liberties since this is almost restrained for him. But this was the right approach. How he brings it home at the end with a surprisingly emotional wallop should be proof enough that there's a lot more going on here than the impressive production and costume design and cinematography, which will still likely figure in huge during awards time. This was hard to do but Luhrmann nailed it, proving that sometimes it isn't always best to leave well enough alone. By putting a new polish on a familiar story he's succeeded in making it more accessible, while not abandoning any of the original elements that made it work.