The latest film rendering of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s “The Great Gatsby” is done by the great master of the spectacle Baz Luhrmann (“Strictly Ballroom,” “Moulin Rouge!,” “Australia”). Luhrmann’s highly stylized, always-insmooth- motion, CGI settings are perfect for the world of Jay Gatsby (Leonardo Di- Caprio), the man with the “perfect imagination.” If you don’t know the plot, the way the story is going to shape up is not evident from the beginning. (Spoiler alerts in this review.) The film gets off to a slow, almost uninteresting, hokey start with lots of voiceover from Nick Carraway (Tobey Maguire), who is narrating from the story he wrote about Gatsby’s life. There is a huge build-up to Gatsby before we ever see him. We hear early on that he is a man of tremendous hope, and so we are hooked, because we like hope, we need hope. “Gatsby” is not a frothy, roaring 1920s, “bright young things” romp. And the aspects of it that are are only there for a contrast to deeper issues, deeper matters, matter of the hearts, matters of character and goodness. Gatsby could be a bit of a God figure, actually. He gives lavishly, he is always watching, he loves extravagantly, he is infinitely mysterious, “but he seemed to understand me.” He is also a deeply flawed figure with shady business dealings, and who is not beyond adultery. Can a flawed figure be a God-figure in a film? Perhaps — in their unflawed parts. This film is terribly transcendent. Fitzgerald’s literary poetry towers above any screenplay we hear today. So much of Gatsby’s life was dreams and illusion, but much of it was realized, also. Like every life. And love? Well, we are all heading toward endless Love. “Gatsby” is totally a man’s story. A man’s love story. Also a sort of buddy story. Fitzgerald plays peek-a-boo with God in this story. God is here and there. Is he benign? It’s hard to tell exactly, but man is definitely his image, and males in a particular way in this film make things happen, are in charge, know their own greatness, steer their own courses. Gatsby has a sense of unlimitedness within him that he explicitly recognizes as being like God. And a woman — in the end — is the most worthy object of all his affection, desire, time, planning and attention. Everything is for her. He has “prepared a place for her.” Nothing else matters but her. One can’t help thinking of God wooing us. God’s extravagant gestures toward us. And how do we respond? Burns is a Daughter of St. Paul ministering in Chicago.