Will 'The Great Gatsby' soar or sink?

Let me start by saying that The Great Gatsby is one of my favorite books of all time. I love the story, I love the characters and I consider this to be one of the greatest novels ever written. Like almost everyone else, I was "forced" to read Gatsby in high school, but after a few pages, nothing was forced. I was instantly smitten and totally engaged.

Oh, if only I could be that smitten and engaged with any film version of this incredible story! This week, at long last, the latest Great Gatsby movie finally arrives, complete with all the pomp and circumstance that goes along with any major motion picture release. This is Baz Luhrmann's baby completely, and that thrills me and scares me simultaneously.

When I first heard that Baz Luhrmann was bringing The Great Gatsby to the big screen, my first reaction was to cringe. Sincere apologies to all Luhrmann fans, because it isn't that I don't like his style - it's just that I didn't want it attached in any way to a book I loved so much. Everything the man does is so completely over the top, and I just knew that he'd take Gatsby beyond that.

Then I found out that Leonardo DiCaprio had signed on to portray Jay Gatsby, and suddenly I was hopeful: One of my favorite books as a movie starring one of my favorite actors?! I immediately thought that DiCaprio would be the perfect Gatsby. Am I alone in this? Can anyone else name any current actor who'd be better in the role? Yes, he's older than Gatsby was, but DiCaprio looks (to me) much, much younger than his 38 years.

So let's flash forward to my first glimpse of The Great Gatsby trailer: Picture me, trembling with rage, as the dazzling images play. I was furious, because I'm sorry, the idea of Jay-Z scoring this period film makes me want to tear out my hair. I like Jay-Z, just not for this, definitely not. For. Gatsby. To each his own, someone out there might be furious with me for suggesting that perhaps this is just a bad idea. But I stand by it. Bad idea.

Now, with just days until The Great Gatsby's release, I'm sitting here thinking really hard about whether I even want to see this film. I just re-watched the 1974 Gatsby (which, by the way, is streaming on Netflix), and remembered once again why I didn't really want another movie. Robert Redford's Gatsby is true to the book, but man it just does not work for me on any level. The late, great Roger Ebert wrote in his review of this Gatsby that it never delved deep enough "to the souls of the characters." That's partially because the characters seem pretty darn soulless to me, but I agree. The film was glitzy, but dull. Karen Black was a good Myrtle Wilson, and I am curious about how much this new Gatsby will focus on Myrtle and George Wilson's mutual obliviousness amidst all this wealth and depravity.

Here we are with Baz Luhrmann's Great Gatsby staring us in the face. Will it be all style, zero substance (like many of the Gatsby characters)? Or can Leonardo DiCaprio give a performance that transcends the glamour and makes us feel something real? I'm literally losing sleep over this one. When you love a book, no matter what book it is, you never want to see it slaughtered on film. That is my biggest fear with 2013's The Great Gatsby.

What does everyone else think? If you are a fan of the novel, are you concerned or excited (or both) about this latest movie version? If you hate the book (and believe me, I have several very vocal friends who do), do you have any intention of seeing the film at all?

Photo courtesy of EW.com