The Great Gatsby(2013)

Plot Summary

• Nick Carraway (Toby Maguire), a Yale University graduate and World War I veteran, is staying in a sanatorium to treat his alcoholism. He talks about a man named Gatsby (Leonardo DiCaprio), describing him as the most hopeful man he had ever met. When he struggles to articulate his thoughts, his doctor, Walter Perkins, suggests writing it down, since writing is Nick's true passion.In the summer of 1922, Nick moves from the U.S. Midwest to New York, where he takes a job as a bond salesman after giving up on writing. He rents a small house on Long Island in the (fictional) village of West Egg, next door to the lavish mansion of Jay Gatsby, a mysterious business magnate who holds extravagant parties. Nick drives across the bay to East Egg for dinner at the home of his cousin, Daisy Buchanan (Carey Mulligan), and her husband, Tom (Joel Edgerton), a college acquaintance of Nick's. They introduce Nick to Jordan Baker (Elizabeth Debicki), a cynical young golfer with whom Daisy wishes to couple Nick.Jordan reveals to Nick that Tom has a mistress who lives in the "valley of ashes," an industrial dumping ground between West Egg and New York City. Not long after this revelation, Nick travels with Tom to the valley, where they stop by a garage owned by George Wilson and his wife, Myrtle, who is Tom's lover that Jordan mentioned. Nick goes with Tom and Myrtle (Isla Fisher) to an apartment that they keep for their affair, where Myrtle throws a vulgar and bizarre party with her sister Catherine, that ends with Tom breaking Myrtle's nose as she taunts him about Daisy.As the summer progresses, Nick receives an invitation to one of Gatsby's parties. Upon arriving, he learns that none of the guests at the party, though there are hundreds, have ever met Gatsby himself, and they have developed multiple theories as to who he is: A German spy, a prince, even an assassin. Nick encounters Jordan, and they meet Gatsby, who is surprisingly young and rather aloof, in person. Towards the end of the party, Gatsby's butler informs Jordan that Gatsby wishes to speak with her privately.Gatsby seems to take a liking to Nick, inviting him out for numerous occasions. Their friendship furthers when Gatsby takes Nick out to lunch with his friend Meyer Wolfshiem (Amitabh Bachchan), a gambler who fixed the 1919 World Series, where Nick learns that Gatsby was born to very wealthy people that have already passed away. During the lunch, they run into Tom, Gatsby appearing uncomfortable throughout the exchange. Through Jordan, Nick later learns that Gatsby had a relationship with Daisy in 1917, and is still madly in love with her, throwing his extravagant and wild parties in the hopes that she will one day appear at his doorstep. On most nights, he can be seen reaching out across the bay to the green light at the end of Daisy's dock. He now wants Nick to arrange a reunion between him and Daisy. Nick invites Daisy to have tea at his house, without telling her that Gatsby will be there as well.After a rather awkward reunion, Gatsby and Daisy begin an affair. Gatsby is rather dismayed to learn that Daisy wants to run away from New York with him, his initial plan being for them to live in his mansion. Nick tries to explain to Gatsby that the past cannot be repeated, but he dismisses the remark, claiming that it most certainly can be. Trying to keep the affair a secret, he fires a majority of his servants and discontinues the parties. Eventually, he phones Nick and ask that he and Jordan accompany him to the Buchanans', where they plan to tell Tom that Daisy is leaving him. Nick is hesitant at first, but Gatsby insists that they need him. During the luncheon, Tom becomes increasingly suspicious of Gatsby when he sees him staring at Daisy with such passion. Gatsby begins to announce their love when Daisy stops him, and suggests they all go into town. Everyone leaves for the Plaza, Tom driving Gatsby's car with Nick and Jordan while Gatsby and Daisy take Tom's car. Out of gas, Tom stops at George and Myrtle's garage, where George tells him he plans to move him and wife out west, much to Tom's concern.At the Plaza, Gatsby finally tells Tom that he and Daisy are together, claiming that she never loved him. Outraged, Tom begins to accuse Gatsby of bootlegging alcohol and conducting other illegal endeavors with Meyer Wolfshiem, explaining how Gatsby earned so much money. Pushed to his breaking point, Gatsby screams in rage at Tom, frightening Daisy. She asks to leave and goes with Gatsby, this time in his car. Nick realizes that it is his thirtieth birthday.Later that night, Myrtle manages to flee from her husband, rushing out onto the street. She sees Gatsby's yellow car approaching and runs toward it, believing the driver to be Tom after seeing him in the same car earlier. She is struck and killed. Afterwards, Tom, Nick, and Jordan stop by the garage when they see a large crowd has gathered. There, they learn of Myrtle's death. Tom tells George, her widowed husband, that the yellow car belongs to Gatsby.When they get back to East Egg, Nick finds Gatsby lingering outside the Buchanans' mansion, where Gatsby reveals that Daisy had been the one who was driving, though he intends to take the blame. In spite of everything, Gatsby is convinced that Daisy will call him the next day. At Gatsby's mansion, he also tells Nick that he was born penniless, and his real name is James Gatz. In the morning, Nick leaves for work while Gatsby decides to go for a swim before his pool is drained for the season. While swimming, he hears the phone ring, and believes it to be Daisy. He climbs out of the pool while his butler answers the call, looking out across the bay at Daisy's house with anticipation. He is abruptly shot and killed by George, who then turns the gun on himself. It is revealed that it is Nick on the phone, who stays on the line long enough to hear the two gunshots.When Nick calls the Buchanans to invite Daisy to Gatsby's funeral, he learns that she, Tom, and their daughter are leaving New York. The funeral is attended only by reporters and photographers, who Nick angrily chases out. The media accuses Gatsby of being the lover and eventual murderer of Myrtle, leaving Nick as the only one who knows the truth. Disgusted with both the city and its people, he leaves New York. He takes a final walk through Gatsby's deserted mansion, standing out on the dock for the last time. Back in the sanatorium, he finishes his memoir and titles it "Gatsby", but not long before adding to it with pen, ultimately titling it "The Great Gatsby"

Storyline

• An adaptation of F. Scott Fitzgerald's Long Island-set novel, where Midwesterner Nick Carraway is lured into the lavish world of his neighbor, Jay Gatsby. Soon enough, however, Carraway sees through the cracks of Gatsby's nouveau riche existence, where obsession, madness, and tragedy await. — Anonymous In 1929 New York, bond-seller Nick Carraway, in a sanitarium for depression and alcoholism, is persuaded by his doctor to write a therapeutic account of what put him there. Nick's journal describes how, seven years earlier, he had moved to a tiny house on Long Island adjoining the sumptuous mansion owned by enigmatic neighbour, the fabulously wealthy Jay Gatsby. After attending one of Gatsby's legendary parties Nick is asked by Gatsby to arrange a meeting with his cousin Daisy, now married to the brutish. philandering Tom Buchanan, who was Gatsby's true love prior to war service. As Nick complies he comes to see that Gatsby, once a poor boy, has recreated himself as a fascinating millionaire purely to win Daisy back but the events of a drunken afternoon conspire to bring about an ending which is anything but happy. — don @ minifie-1 Midwest native Nick Carraway arrives in 1922 New York in search of the American dream. Nick, a would-be writer, moves in next door to millionaire Jay Gatsby and across the bay from his cousin Daisy and her philandering husband Tom (Joel Edgerton). Thus, Nick becomes drawn into the captivating world of the wealthy and -- as he bears witness to their illusions and deceits -- pens a tale of impossible love, dreams, and tragedy. — Jwelch5742 It's the spring of 1922, and wide-eyed Midwesterner Nick Carraway (Tobey Maguire) has just moved to New York City in pursuit of the American Dream. Settling into a home next door to wealthy Jay Gatsby (Leonardo DiCaprio), Carraway grows increasingly fascinated by the elaborate parties held at his new neighbor's estate. Meanwhile, across the bay, Carraway's cousin Daisy (Carey Mulligan) flounders in her marriage to philandering aristocrat Tom Buchanan (Joel Edgerton). Inspired by the debauchery on display at Gatsby's wild parties and the lives of the wealthy elite, Carraway begins putting pen to paper as it gradually becomes clear that his cousin and the millionaire share a complicated romantic past that remains unresolved. 2 more All