It is rarely said that the movie is better than the book, but in the case of The Great Gatsby, the movie really is better than the book.

The movie stayed true to the original story almost word for word and the amazing visuals made the story come to life. Making the whole movie a flashback, narrator Nick Carraway, played by Tobey Maguire , is reencountering his life in West Egg, New York.

In West Egg, he is thrown into the world of lavish parties, secrets and scandal. He meets his mysterious neighbor, Jay Gatsby, played by Leonardo DiCaprio, who you later find out has only moved to West Egg to regain the love of a previous flame, Daisy Buchanan, played by Carey Mulligan. The only thing standing in their way is Daisy’s brutish husband Tom played by Joel Edgerton.

Each one of the actors casted plays their part perfectly. At first, I was hesitant at the fact that Isla Fisher would be playing Tom’s mistress, Myrtle Wislon, which is such a different role from her previous chick-flick moves like Confessions of a Shopaholic. In the end, Fisher played up Myrtle’s vulgar and wild personality. Another surprise casting was Edgerton, known for his role in Warrior, was not exactly the person who came to mind when I though of an angry, cheating husband, but his assertive attitude really made his role believable.

From the beginning of the movie, watchers immediately begin to hate Mulligan, but this only means that she is doing her job right. No other actress could have pulled off Daisy’s flirty and ditzy personality as well as Mulligan had. It is no debate who is the star of the movie, Leonardo DiCaprio completely lit up the screen with his genuine smiles and alluring charm.

Although the movie was two and a half hours long, the time went by like the blink of an eye; the exciting parties and complicated scandals kept viewers on the edge of their seats. Whether you have read the book or not, The Great Gatsby surprises anyone who watches it.