The Great Gatsby (2000 film)

The Great Gatsby is a 2000 British-American romantic drama television film, based on the 1925 novel of the same name by F. Scott Fitzgerald. It stars Toby Stephens in the title role of Jay Gatsby, Mira Sorvino as Daisy Buchanan, Paul Rudd as Nick Carraway, Martin Donovan as Tom Buchanan, Francie Swift as Jordan Baker, Heather Goldenhersh as Myrtle Wilson and Matt Malloy as Klipspringer. The film was released on March 29, 2000.

The Great Gatsby
DVD Cover
Directed byRobert Markowitz
Produced byCraig McNeil
David Roessell
Screenplay byJohn McLaughlin
Based onThe Great Gatsby
by F. Scott Fitzgerald
StarringToby Stephens
Mira Sorvino
Paul Rudd
Martin Donovan
Music byCarl Davis
CinematographyGuy Dufaux
Edited byDavid Beatty
Production
company
Granada Entertainment

A&E Television Networks (as A&E Network) Traveler's Rest Films (in association with)

BBC (in association with) (as BBC Films)
Distributed byA&E Television Networks (2001) (USA) (TV) BBC (2000) (UK) (TV)
Release date
March 29, 2000 (2000-03-29) (UK) January 14, 2001 (2001-01-14) (USA)
Running time
90 minutes
CountryUnited Kingdom
United States

Plot

Nick Carraway (Paul Rudd) is a young bond salesman who rents a cottage near the mansion of the wealthy and reclusive Jay Gatsby (Toby Stephens). Nick gets to know his neighbor, Gatsby, who was a poor man named Gatz before he left to fight in World War I. Gatsby was in love with a beautiful woman from a wealthy family, Daisy (Mira Sorvino). When he returned, Gatz was determined prove himself worthy to win her hand, even though Daisy had by this time married the socially prominent Tom Buchanan (Martin Donovan). Gatsby has yet to give up on his romantic dream and enlists Nick, who is distantly related to Daisy, in his plan. [1]

Cast

Characters
  • Nick Carraway – One of the main characters and the narrator of the movie, Nick Carraway is a Yale graduate and World War I veteran from the Midwest. Working as a bond salesman after the war, Carraway moves to West Egg to live near his cousin Daisy Buchanan. In West Egg, Carraway meets his next door neighbour, none other than the movie’s main character, Jay Gatsby. In awe of Gatsby’s wealth, history, and lifestyle, Carraway befriends him and immediately becomes even more intrigued with the mysterious socialite. Being the movie’s most grounded, optimistic, and practical character, Carraway’s narrations act as the commentator of everyone’s inner thoughts giving the audience a much more in depth understanding of the plot.[2][3]
  • Jay Gatsby – Originally born James “Jimmy” Gatz from North Dakota, Gatsby was a major in World War I where he first fell in love with Daisy Buchanan. However being poor and not from a patrician family, Daisy was married to another man, Tom Buchanan. From this point on, Gatsby dedicated to making his life into one suitable enough for Daisy and be able to finally win her love. From being a soldier to a businessman, with his new riches, Gatsby buys a mansion in West Egg directly across the water from Daisy’s home in order to keep a watchful eye on the love of his life. Gatsby is known for throwing elaborate and extravagant parties at his mansion in hopes that one day Daisy might show up and he would be able to win her back with his immense new wealth. According to Some Sort of Epic Grandeur, Matthew J. Bruccoli's biography of F. Scott Fitzgerald, the character is based on the bootlegger and former World War officer, Max Gerlach.[4][5]
  • Daisy Buchanan – The character of Daisy Fay Buchanan portrays a warm, flirtatious, and selfish married woman from South Kentucky. Daisy’s character is married to a man named Tom Buchanan and they have one daughter together. Being cousins with Nick Carraway who is slowly developing a new friendship with Jay Gatsby, Daisy Buchanan is reunited with her former lover none other than Gatsby himself. In good reasoning, her reunion with Gatsby arouses the jealousy and suspicion of her husband. It has often been said that the character of Daisy Buchanan was based on the American socialite Ginevra King.[6]
  • Thomas “Tom” Buchanan – Thomas Buchanan, the husband of Daisy Buchanan, plays the role of a classic wealthy American man coming from a socialite family. Unlike Jay Gatsby, Thomas Buchanan’s family background and riches were enough to win over Daisy and marry her, which stirred up tension between Tom and Gatsby. Despite his relationship with Daisy, Tom becomes involved in a side love affair with a character named Myrtle Wilson.
  • Jordan Baker – Coming from Louisville, the character of Jordan Baker plays the main love interest of Nick Carraway. It is also revealed that she had a past with Daisy Buchanan and was aware of her whole love affair, past and present, with Jay Gatsby.[7]
  • Myrtle Wilson – Myrtle Wilson, despite her humble roots, is a character portrayed as desperately desiring to be sophisticated and wealthy, coming off as tacky to the narrator Nick Carraway. Being unhappily married to her husband for two years now due to his lack of wealth and social status, Myrtle has an affair with Tom Buchanan.[8]

Production

The film was made in collaboration by the A&E Cable Network in the United States, and Granada Productions in Great Britain. It was directed by Robert Markowitz from a teleplay by John J. McLaughlin. The music score was by Carl Davis and the cinematography by Guy Dufaux. The production was designed by Taavo Soodor.

This is the fourth film adaptation of The Great Gatsby.

Marketing

A&E Network launched a widespread marketing campaign for their 2001 programming, with a major focus on The Great Gatsby. For Gatsby, they hosted national and local sweepstakes sponsored by US Airways and Waterford Crystal and tied them into high schools, colleges, and libraries. Displays were reportedly placed in 12,000 libraries nationwide, and A&E held acting contests at 23,000 high schools and colleges.

An in-flight featurette,The Making of the Great Gatsby, played on US Airways during the holiday season. [9]

Filming

The film was filmed at Montreal, Quebec.[10]

Reception

The film has a 27% on Rotten Tomatoes. [11] On IMDB it has a score of 5.8/10. [12] Caryn James of the New York Times praised Paul Rudd as "brilliant" in the role of Nick Carraway, but called the film "uneven, flat-footed" and wrote the "film might have survived its pedestrian style, but it can't survive a leaden Gatsby."[13]

gollark: How can you POSSIBLY fill those usefully?
gollark: 36 server racks‽
gollark: COOL bases are just bland industrial cuboids packed with machinery.
gollark: Maybe a keybinding.
gollark: Yeees.

References
  1. The Great Gatsby (TV) (2000), retrieved 2019-03-28
  2. "The Great Gatsby", Wikipedia, 2019-03-22, retrieved 2019-03-28
  3. "Nick Carraway", Wikipedia, 2019-02-13, retrieved 2019-03-28
  4. "The Great Gatsby", Wikipedia, 2019-03-22, retrieved 2019-03-28
  5. "Jay Gatsby", Wikipedia, 2019-03-15, retrieved 2019-03-28
  6. "Daisy Buchanan", Wikipedia, 2018-12-24, retrieved 2019-03-28
  7. Edwards, Halle. "Best Character Analysis: Jordan Baker - The Great Gatsby". blog.prepscholar.com. Retrieved 2019-03-28.
  8. Wulick, Dr Anna. "Best Character Analysis: Myrtle Wilson - The Great Gatsby". blog.prepscholar.com. Retrieved 2019-03-28.
  9. Forkan, Jim. "A&E Sets Major Push for Great Gatsby". Multichannel. Retrieved 2019-03-28.
  10. The Great Gatsby, retrieved 2019-03-28
  11. The Great Gatsby (2001), retrieved 2019-03-28
  12. The Great Gatsby, retrieved 2019-03-28
  13. James, Caryn (January 12, 2001). "The Endless Infatuation With Getting 'Gatsby' Right". New York Times. Retrieved April 11, 2019.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.