Main Cast: Toby Stephens, Mira Sorvino, Paul Rudd, Martin Donovan, Francie Swift
Release Year: 2000
Country: US
Run Time: 120 minutes
Plot
F. Scott Fitzgerald's masterpiece, often regarded as one of the greatest American novels of the 20th century, is brought to the screen in this made-for-TV feature, produced in collaboration with the A&E Cable Network in the United States, and Granada Entertainment in Great Britain. Nick Carraway (Paul Rudd) is a young bond salesman who rents a cottage near the mansion of the wealthy but reclusive Jay Gatsby (Toby Stephens). In time, Nick gets to know his neighbor, who has accumulated a vast fortune through vague, suspect means, but has carefully forged an outward image of refinement and charm. Years ago, before he left to fight in World War I, Gatsby was a poor man named Gatz and was in love with a beautiful woman from a wealthy family, Daisy (Mira Sorvino). When he returned, Gatz was determined to remake himself so that he might be seen fit to someday win her hand, even though Daisy had by this time married the socially prominent but boorish 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. This production marked the fourth time that The Great Gatsby had been committed to film -- the best known version being Jack Clayton's 1974 adaptation, featuring Robert Redford as Gatsby and Mia Farrow as Daisy. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
Review
This made-for-TV production faithfully adapts F. Scott Fitzgerald's classic novel of Jazz Age glamour, decadence, and star-crossed love. While developing the novel's thesis -- the death of the American dream and the man who dreams it -- director Robert Markowitz and his staff dress up the film with the elegant trappings of the gentry and the nouveaux riches, including sprawling estates, vintage cars, chic fashions, and clubby restaurants and watering holes. The cinematography is stunning, whether fixed on the calming peace of a falling sun or on the wrenching horror of a body scuffed raw on pavement by a hit-and-run car. Composer Carl Davis distinguishes the film with a brilliant score of pulsating jazz and wistful mood music. British actor Toby Stephens portrays the main character, Jay Gatsby, a Jew and a Midwesterner by birth. To win back the woman he once loved -- the style-conscious, money-loving Daisy Buchanan (Mira Sorvino), who married wealth and status in the person of upper-crust snob and bigot Tom Buchanan (Martin Donovan) -- Gatsby doffs his Jewish name (Jimmy Gatz), amasses a fortune through bootlegging and other illegal activities, and moves into a mansion on West Egg, Long Island, just across the water from Daisy's home on East Egg. Then he has Daisy's cousin, Nick Carraway (Paul Rudd, re-introduce him to Daisy. Stephens' portrayal is mediocre for those who interpret Gatsby as mysterious, articulate, urbane, insouciant. But his portrayal is just right for those who interpret him as more Midwestern than Eastern, more plebeian than aristocrat. The other actors -- Sorvino, Donovan, Rudd and those in supporting roles -- all perform capably. Overall, A&E's Great Gatsby is a worthy production that deserves more praise than criticism. ~ Mike Cummings, All Movie Guide
Heather Goldenhersh - Myrtle; Matt Malloy - Klipspringer; Richard Jutras; Jerry Grayson; Janine Theriault; Ernie Jackson; Paul Hopkins; Burtt Harris
Credit
Ilene Starger - Casting, Nicoletta Massone - Costume Designer, Robert Markowitz - Director, David Beatty - Editor, Tom Thayer - Executive Producer, Carl Davis - Composer (Music Score), Taavo Soodor - Production Designer, Guy Dufaux - Cinematographer, Craig McNeil - Producer, David Roessell - Producer, John McLaughlin - Screenwriter, F. Scott Fitzgerald - Book Author
It 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.
