I'm not sure what I liked about the film so much: I'm a sucker for Lurhmann in general. But there's something more general about privilege and carelessness, and the dismissal of those outside an enchanted circle, going on in it for me: these might be particularly well-shown in the jazz age, but they aren't limited to it. There's clearly something about the American Dream going on - apparently Fitzgerald tried to change the title to 'Under the Red, White and Blue', but I think being British I don't fully get the American Dream either intellectually or emotionally.

Then again, this is - just the film - probably heavily influenced by half-hearing about it and expecting an entirely different story (I thought Gatsby was the dangerously careless one and that the narrator would be drawn into his glitzy world but wouldn't have the money and power to escape the bad sides and would be discarded)

I saw the film with people who'd read (and possibly briefly studied) it, and I suspect my view isn't typical. For instance, I saw a clear and direct read-across between Gatsby and Steerpike (from Gormenghast), and everyone thought I was just being weird...