Similar to his take on Romeo and Juliet, director Baz Luhrmann’s interpretation of The Great Gatsby is unabashedly glitzy and inaccurate. Those who have yet to read the American classic, however, will enjoy the first-rate costuming and extravagant cinematography.

Relying on a misguided framing device, Luhrmann and co-writer Craig Pearce tell the story from Nick Carraway’s (Tobey Maguire) recollection from inside a sanitarium.

Through his retrospective narrative, we are introduced to Jay Gatsby (Leonardo DiCaprio), Nick’s puzzling neighbor, and his cousin, Daisy Buchanan (Carey Mulligan), who lives with her brutish husband, Tom (Joel Edgerton). The two live in East Egg, a section of Long Island exclusive to those born wealthy.

The distressed narrator lives across the bay, next door to the enigmatic Gatsby, the role DiCaprio was born to play. The Titanic star skillfully portrays one of the most mystifying characters in American literature; his performance triumphs over Robert Redford’s portrayal in the 1974 depiction.

Gatsby is a newly minted millionaire and is determined to win Daisy’s lost love. On the rare instances when they are given a chance to act in the pulsating mania of the Jazz Age, both have a noticeable tension and chemistry, truly embodying the spirits of long-lost lovers.

Maguire’s narration is hinted with wry observation, a necessity for Nick’s midwestern decency, but falls flat as a wide-eyed one-note performance.

Edgerton’s portrayal of Tom is but a twirl in a cartoon villain’s mustache. Racist, abusive, and entirely selfish, Edgerton’s performance is misguided and fails to make the distinction between “old” and “new” money.

Meanwhile, Mulligan’s deer-in-the-headlights rendition of Daisy fails to diverge from the script, despite portraying a pretty inaccessibility that Fitzgerald would applaud.

Straying from the novel, many of the characters fail to retain their complexity and metaphorical resonance Fitzgerald artfully wove into the storyline. Pearce and Luhrmann have turned an American classic into a love story with characters drunk on champagne in 1920’s inspired sets.

Although creating a dynamic and star-studded soundtrack, Jay Z’s selections for Gatsby’s soundtrack are largely inappropriate. Despite being set in the Jazz Age, very few of the songs actually utilize jazz instruments and melodies. In one iconic moment, when Myrtle Wilson (Isla Fisher) drops the needle on a gramophone, Kanye West pours out of the speakers, baffling audiences.

Luhrmann’s style is unquestionably ambitious for this story–the millions of dollars spent on sets and custom Prada-designed costuming are evident. His fast-paced style combined with the frenzy of the 1920’s, however, creates a cinematic buffet, smacking the audience in the face as Q-tip raps during a crane panorama.