Review: The Great Gatsby (Sydney Premiere, May 22)

Last night's The Great Gatsby premiere in Sydney was a glorified media event through and through. The fans almost seemed like an afterthought at the event hosted by Hoyts Entertainment Quarter at Moore Park, Sydney, though still needed in the background to provide more buzz to the movie, showing on theatres May 30.

Fans lined up early to brave the rain, which didn't stop one minute throughout the event and ponchos were distributed right before the red carpet started. With the rainy weather having been forecasted early in the week, setting up a tent on the red carpet would have solved the problem altogether, not to mention cut down the costs of hundreds of umbrellas that were used that night to shield stars and guests from the heavy pour. And the wide green bush decor, while aesthetically pleasing and conceptually relevant, also made it much more difficult for fans to take pictures with the stars.

Anyways. On to the red carpet.

BAZ LUHRMANN

The Gatsby crew clearly ignored the red carpet rule no 1: Arrive fashionably late. Baz Luhrmann and wife, Catherine Martin, who designed the costumes in the lavish production of the classic American novel, were among the firsts to step on the red carpet and excited the fans.

The Moulin Rouge director sported an all white tux by Brooks Brothers with a black bow tie and with the slick tux and grey hair, he  reminded us of Anderson Cooper, weirdly enough. Seemingly in good mood, perhaps due to encouraging box office number ($140 million as of now), Baz took numerous pictures with fans though he did skip us to pose with a tall guy standing on our right. Obviously being vertically challenged in the red carpet is a big disadvantage.

CATHERINE MARTIN

Catherine trailed off behind her husband, gracefully posing with fans and taking time to sign. She donned a gorgeous and weather appropriate black velvet Prada coat with daisy prints, bright red lipstick and equally bright smile. We asked her which character's costume she loved designing most and she smiled proudly, "All of them, they are my babies!"

(Ssshh, it's Daisy's right?!)

ELIZABETH DEBICKI

She stepped out of the car, in a sleeveless black cashmere top with ankle length floral organza dress from Dior and pulled back blonde hair. If you think she looked pretty with a short black bob in The Great Gatsby previews, she was even more beautiful and statuesque in person.

The eyes were lively and the smile was megawatt for the cameras, though when the flashes were off, it was replaced with a sullen look that said 'I'm not here for this'. After signing and posing with a couple fans, she started to crouch down to pose with us but at her handler's notice, went to take a picture with a guy at earlier line. When she returned, we asked again nicely but she, pretended not to hear us in the quiet corner, slid away to the red carpet. After all, those were the cameras that matter.

JOEL EDGERTON

Sporting a full beard and a blue tux, Joel signed for fans and posed for pictures with us, with girlfriend Alexis Blake as his date. If we had more time, would have told him that we couldn't wait to hate him in the movie!

TOBEY MAGUIRE

It's somewhat endearing and odd to find out that Tobey Maguire is as awkward as his Peter Parker persona. It wasn't immediately clear at first that Tobey would only shake hands with fans. No autograph, no picture. He even turned away as one fan attempted a quick snap. He only obliged to pose with a little boy and girl who dressed up as little Gatsby and Daisy in one of several cuteness overload moments of the night.

As he approached us, Tobey Maguire held his hands out to shake ours. Of course, with iPhone on one hand and camera on the other, we couldn't. "Can we maybe get a picture?" We dared.

Unblinking, confusion flashed across his face as he mumbled, "Hi, how are you?" and continued on to the next guy only to repeat, "Hi, how are you?".

Those infamous memes aren't that baseless after all.

CAREY MULLIGAN

Carey Mulligan arrived last at the red carpet, and boy did they save the best for last. She wore a sheer pink bustier and black pants from Nina Ricci and Lanvin, paired with black T-bar heels from Saint Laurent. A look that was decidedly not '20s, but chic and modern nonetheless.

As her strict handler stood behind her exclaiming, "No pictures! Only autographs!", Carey looked apologetic that she couldn't pose with everyone.

She did pose quickly with us and as she signed an autograph, we asked her what her favorite role is to date. After some thinking (understandable as this is the actress who had An Education, Let Me Go and Shame under her belt), she answered, "Probably this one!"

Little Leo Gatsby!

The Rest

The Great Gatsby premiere was a star studded event indeed, with a string of local celebrities flowing into the red carpet, some with their umbrella chaperons. Jack Thompson was there.



The Voice host Darren McMullen had a funny incident with his umbrella that kept closing on his head.

Although Delta Goodrem and Joel Madden did show up, the much hyped appearances by Seal, Nicole Richie and Ricky Martin didn't eventuate. Either they arrived extremely late or skipped the red carpet because of the rain. We also somehow missed model Sarah Pauley, who attended the premiere. I'm sure you'd agree that she won costume of the night.

So that's a wrap to The Great Gatsby Sydney premiere! Overall, it was exciting night. A noteworthy point was that the cast, despite arriving so early, were seemingly impatient to head to the tent where more than fifty photographers awaited with glaring blitz. Remember the premiere of Les Misérables with 20 times the crowds, where the stars arrived late and still tended to most fans? Not complaining. Simply reminiscing.

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