The Great Gatsby has been one of the most highly anticipated movies of the year and one of the movies I was most looking forward to seeing. I had high expectations, having loved the book and seen multiple preview that piqued my interest. I got what I bargained for; an entertaining, visually-appealing story that stayed pretty true to the original book.

I won’t go into too much plot detail since this is such a famous story, but here are the basics; The Great Gatsby is based on the classic 1925 book by F. Scott Fitzgerald and is set on Long Island during the Jazz Age. The movie features an impressive cast, lead by Leonardo Dicaprio as Jay Gatsby, Carey Mulligan as Daisy Buchanan, Tobey Maguire as Nick Carraway, and Joel Edgerton as Tom Buchanan. It was directed by Baz Luhrmann.

Aside from the actual movie, the soundtrack has been getting a lot of buzz. Jay-Z was heavily involved with the music, which was a highly eclectic mix of things. Most of the time I felt the music complemented the story, but at times it was distracting. It’s kind of odd to hear decidedly modern music float above a scene of New York City 90 years ago. In fact, there was very little of the music that I (and probably most people) associate with the 1920’s.

Other than that, I didn’t have too many complaints. I thought towards the end it got a little dialogue-heavy, but that was because it stayed so true to the book. One respect in which it deviated was having the narrator, Nick Carraway, tell his story from a sanitarium. I thought that was kind of unoriginal and unnecessary.

On a more positive note, I thought all the actors did a fantastic job. They really embodied all the characters for me. I also loved the scenes that showed Gatsby’s elaborate parties. No expense was spared in making the set larger than life.

The movie has been generating a lot of different opinions. While I can see why someone might not like it as much I as I did, my opinion is that it is worth seeing. I would also suggest reading the book first, because I’m that annoying person that tells their friends not to watch a movie until they’ve read the book. Either way, it’s a timeless story that’s worth experiencing.