If you’ve spent any appreciable time watching television or taking trips to the multiplex lately, chances are pretty good that you’ve seen a few trailers for the upcoming summer blockbuster re-imagining of The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald’s 1920s literary masterpiece. Fitzgerald’s novel has seen numerous adaptations over the years, from a 1974 film version starring Robert Redford and Mia Farrow, to a 1999 opera incarnation, and director Baz Luhrmann’s take on the classic story looks poised to add a bit of modern flair and stylish cinematography into the mix when it hits theaters this Friday.

But does that mix work?

According to early critical reception, not quite. The film currently holds just a 46% rating at the review aggregate site Rotten Tomatoes, and many critics agree with the sentiment of Kenneth Turan of the Los Angeles Times: this Gatsby is all style and little substance.

“The Great Gatsby began on paper, with F. Scott Fitzgerald’s celebrated novel, and on paper Gatsby sounds like quite the film,” Turan wrote yesterday in his review of the film. “On screen, though, things start to fall apart.”

For a film starring buzz-worthy Hollywood heavyweights like Leonardo DiCaprio, Carey Mulligan, and Tobey Maguire (and an impressive ensemble cast, to boot), that assessment may feel harsh, but it’s hardly a surprising one considering the oeuvre of director Baz Luhrmann. Most well-known for a flashy modernization of a Shakespearian favorite (1996’s Romeo + Juliet, which also starred DiCaprio) and an explosive modern musical (2001’s Best Picture-nominated Moulin Rouge!), Luhrmann has made his name on spectacle. Heightened drama, ravishing costume and set designs, and anachronistic soundtrack tunes have always been hallmarks of Luhrmann’s distinctive directorial style, and Turan notes that all of those qualities are alive and well in his version of The Great Gatsby. This time around though, the artistic liberties, along with a particularly distracting case of 3D photography, suffocate the material.

“A filmmaker who has increasingly made a fetish of excess and a religion of artificiality, Luhrmann and his team pile on the spectacle and the glitter until we are gasping for air,” Turan wrote, adding that DiCaprio and his “movie star charisma” are the only things to survive the film’s “onslaught of insincerity.”

The Great Gatsby is rated PG-13 for “some violent images, sexual content, smoking, partying, and brief language,” and boasts a 141 minute run time. The film is set to open in wide release this Friday, May 10. Visit the official website for more information.