While their was a nagging feeling that Ba Luhrmann would somehow muck up his cinematic adaptation of The Great Gatsby, no one thought he would do it with such style. This is, by all accounts, a major blow for his credibility.

Extravagance is his style, as is previous films (Romeo & Juliet and Moulin Rouge) exemplify with aplomb. His handling of Gatsby has been panned by the critics, culminating in an embarrassing 47% score on Rotten Tomatoes. Here are some of the best (or worst) reviews. “On paper "Gatsby" sounds like quite the film. On screen, though, things start to fall apart,” say The L.A Times. “It surely belongs to the category of baroque, overblown, megalomaniacal spectacles dubbed "film follies" by longtime Nation film critic Stuart Klawans,” say Salon.com, while The Associated Press write: “[Luhrmann's] "Great Gatsby" is all about the glitter but it has no soul - and the fact that he's directed it in 3-D only magnifies the feeling of artificiality.” Our favourite negative Gatsby review comes from Film.com, though, who write: “And so we wait, wait for the parties to end, wait for sparks to fly, for tragedy to strike, for repercussions to ensue, for our persistently passive protagonist to simply shut up already."

This Gatsby at least managed to beat the 1974 silver screen version, which was also panned by the critics. The studio won’t care much, as this film will perform well financially, but Luhrmann might become known amongst film circles as the man who fluffed the perfect story – the great American novel.

Leonardo DiCaprioWhat are you saying about my film? - Leonardo Dicaprio