The Great Gatsby

Now I want to read The Great Gatsby, the movie tells me it has the makings of a great literary work - the bleeding handsome hero, the young narrator, the heartless leading lady and an era of magic and possibilities - the roaring twenties.

Robert Redford is a manifestation of Hollywood hero by the book. Unbearably handsome with a face that can emote, I realize Brad Pitt is the Robert Redford our age, or he is the best shot of this generation for the post of the quintessential American hero, but he is still not Redford. I have seen two Mia Farrow movies in a row never having seen a movie of hers before this. She is good, playing two distinctly different characters in the two movies. The other movie is Rosemary's baby.

The Great Gatsby was a movie I didn't expect to like and was surprised when I did. I was also surprised to see Sam Waterson in a film, as opposed to Law and Order. An interesting movie for a student of history and the growth of America, of course there is story thrown in. Well that's me, for you the story could be of two lovers separated by circumstances, time, culture and all that usually works against uniting lovers. I wind off with a quote from the original novel by F.Scott Fitzegerald,

"Everyone suspects himself of at least one of the cardinal virtues, and this is mine: I am one of the few honest people that I have ever known."
- F. Scott Fitzgerald, The Great Gatsby, Ch. 3