The Great Gatsby

Honestly, I'm not sure what would inspire anyone to watch ANY version of _The Great Gatsby_ unless you are (1) a teacher wanting to show it in conjunction with teaching the novel or (2) a student attempting to bolster your understanding of the book. (Just read the book already!) So, with that audience in mind, I think this version has it all over the 1974 film in most respects. It runs closer to the book with far fewer invented (or re-ordered or moved-to-another-location) scenes. Mira Sorvino has the convincingly lovely voice to play Daisy, whereas Mia Farrow in the older version ruins any semblance to the book character with her Minnie Mouse shrillness. Toby Stephens is not as dreamy as Robert Redford, but he does better at conveying that sinister side of Gatsby which I think many first-time readers miss or minimize. Gatsby's illicit activities, so tantalizingly vague in Fitzgerald, are rendered with too much clarity for my taste, but on the whole I found this a fine accompaniment to the novel.