10 Movies That Aren’t As Bad As Everyone Says

9. The Great Gatsby

The visuals were lurid and bright. The soundtrack consisted of contemporary music. There was excessive use of CGI. It didn't seem like Baz Luhrmann's The Great Gatsby was trying hard to stick stylistically close to F. Scott Fitzgerald seminal novel. That's because he wasn't.

When Gatsby loudly announced itself, Luhrmann wasn't trying to make the definitive adaptation; as with Romeo + Juliet before it, he was exploring the highly regarded work through a new approach. And most people couldn't really get past that, dismissing the film with the age-old insult of style over substance. The essence of this Gatsby is in the style, the obscene decadence. The film certainly doesn't hit quite as hard as the source novel, but that's less Luhrmann's fault and more Fitzgerald for making a book so deceptive it's conventionally unfilmable.

The movie goes over-the-top in its luxuries, which could be said to be too far but really helps make this unique approach. Maybe slap bang in the middle of blockbuster season wasn't the right place for the film, although in a landscape where each reinvention of a property is trying to be the ultimate take something less delusional was much appreciated. Also DiCaprio is, as always, brilliant.