I enjoyed F. Scott Fitzgerald’s masterpiece “The Great Gatsby.” But dare I say that I also enjoyed Baz Luhrmann’s “The Great Gatsby” too? Was it the best movie I’ve ever seen or an Oscar contender? No. But does it deserve scorn and disdain from movie critics and Fitzgerald groupies who cannot bear the sight of a discrepancy between the book and film? No.

I came into the theater skeptical because of critical scrutiny. But I can honestly say that I thoroughly enjoyed the movie, which made over $53 million dollars at the box office for its opening weekend in the United States.

Many critics say the character development in the movie was poor, but on the whole, I thought the acting was superb. Leonardo DiCaprio played a perfect Gatsby in Baz Luhrmann’s rendition of “The Great Gatsby,” the first Gatsby movie in over 30 years.

DiCaprio captured the carelessness of Gatsby’s opulent lifestyle, the mysteriousness of his character’s work and his hope to repeat the past. Tobey Maguire, who played Nick Carraway, gave a sound performance – embodying the skeptical and judgemental nature of Carraway’s character. Carey Mulligan delivered a phenomenal performance, and was quite the eye candy in playing Daisy Buchanan, the woman who broke Gatsby’s heart.

Some critics called it boring, but in my eyes, the film was upbeat, the soundtrack, including Jay-Z and Lana Del Rey, was amazing, and the acting was stellar. The massive parties, Daisy and Gatsby’s affair, and Gatsby’s ultimate demise left me on edge for most of the movie – I left the theater satisfied that my $12 had not gone to waste.

Luhrmann did a good job not blindly following Fitzgerald’s writing as a script – he took the necessary artistic license to make the film his own. This is what made the movie more enjoyable to me because even though I have read the book, I did not know exactly what was going to happen in the film.

My only real qualm with the movie: At times it was hard not to imagine Tobey Maguire, who played Nick Carraway, as Spiderman. But other than that, Maguire’s performance paired with DiCaprio’s made this a fun movie to watch.

So my advice to you: Don’t expect the movie to blindly follow the book, don’t listen to the critics, go see the movie, and decide for yourself about how enjoyable the film is.