The only thing more elaborate than the life of Jay Gatsby is Baz Luhrmann’s interpretation of it on the big screen.

Earlier this month, The Great Gatsby, based on F. Scott Fitzgerald’s iconic 1925 novel, was released in theaters worldwide.

As every upperclassmen in this school knows, The Great Gatsby is the story of Nick Carraway’s (Tobey Maguire) summer on Long Island living next to Jay Gatsby (Leonardo DiCaprio), a mysterious WWI veteran who lives a high-class life. We soon learn that Gatsby has been in love with Nick’s cousin Daisy Buchanan (Carey Mulligan) since a relationship they shared one summer prior to the war. It’s a tale of old love and new love, old money and new money and most importantly “the orgastic future” and how to achieve the unattainable.

I was surprised by how flawlessly the movie followed the novel. The film has been portrayed as a very artsy adaptation, so I assumed some plot would be twisted to accommodate Luhrmann’s vision.

The film also focused on telling the story from Nick’s point of view, emphasizing the effect that Gatsby and the ignorant rich had on him as he spirals into a deep alcohol-fueled depression after his summer with them.

There is no ignoring the symbolism and hidden meaning by Fitzgerald’s incredible work in the film. Luhrmann did a great job of representing every symbol and theme from the “green light” to the the role of women in the ‘20s.

The film, however, has received mixed reviews thus far. The key to enjoying the movie is remembering that you are seeing a Luhrmann adaptation of the novel.

Like his other notable works, Romeo and Juliet and Moulin Rouge, the film tells the story with a certain flair. Of course in the film, Gatsby’s parties include girls in flapper dresses and bob cuts, but they’re dancing to dubstep, not ‘20s-era jazz.

Standing on its own, the soundtrack looks more like a playlist that your average teenager would really enjoy, featuring artists like Jay-Z, Beyonce and Florence and the Machine. It was great music, but after seeing Gatsby in a three-piece suit driving a  Duesenberg Model J, I was always a little surprised to hear rap in the background. The music tended to fit the scene but it always felt a little out of place.

Putting aside the unconventional way the story is told at times, my only problem with the film was the cinematography. The camera would whip from one angle to another very quickly, or it would switch between two, back and forth.

For example, in the scene when we first meet Daisy and her brute of a husband Tom (Joel Edgerton) when Nick goes to their house for dinner, the camera switches back and forth from an aerial shot, to an eye-level shot and back and forth again. The attempt at being “artsy” was completely lost because I was beginning to get a headache.

Despite its flaws, the acting and scenery made up for anything too over-the-top. With an all-star cast it’s no surprise that the acting was top-notch. I even enjoyed Maguire’s performance whom I usually find irritating as an actor. The film is also very visually pleasing (think bright and shimmery) which entranced me in the love story.

Overall, I felt the film was a surprisingly enjoyable modern adaptation. Compared to Romeo and Juliet (which I couldn’t get through the first few times), this Luhrmann adaptation fairly represented the story as a whole, not just the love story.