Great Expectations (1998) ...
| Released: | 1998 |
| Running Time: | 111 mins. |
| Cast: | Ethan Hawke Gwyneth Paltrow Hank Azaria Chris Cooper Anne Bancroft Robert De Niro |
| Writers: | Charles Dickens
(novel) Mitch Glazer (screenplay) |
| Director: | Alfonso Cuarón |
| My Rating | *** |
I rather liked this updated version of the Charles Dickens novel. Gwyneth is at her sexy best and Ethan Hawke plays the starving artist character to the hilt and I even found myself sympathizing with his frustrations at being torn between his art and love. The cinematography is stunning at times and the sequence where Estalla poses for Finn the first time is as hot and sexy a sequence as you'll ever see in a mainstream movie. (Go to my Gwyneth Video page for a quick look ... it will bring a smile to your face ...)
This adaptation of Great Expectations stars Ethan Hawke in the Pip role and Gwyneth Paltrow as Estella. Even though the cast is well-known and respected actors, in addition to Hawke and Paltrow, include Anne Bancroft in the Miss Havisham role, Robert De Niro in the Magwitch role, and Chris Cooper as Joe, the movie received mixed reviews.
This version modernizes the plot in similar spirit to Hawke's later Hamlet, and is set in modern Florida and New York City. Virtually all the major characters except Estella are renamed; Pip ("Philip Pirip") is now Finn ("Finnegan Bell"). The story line has Finn as a young fisherman in a mostly dysfunctional family who is otherwise happy with Uncle Joe as his guardian and mentor.
Young Finn likes to paint and is also companion to the flamboyant and eccentric Ms. Nora Dinsmoor and falls in love with her pretty young ward, Estella, who represents the opposite of his honest but plebian prospects. His "great expectation" is to be unexpectedly introduced and sponsored in the trendy New York gallery art scene in SoHo.
The story traces most of the essential plot of the novel, though with major reworking of virtually every situation and plot turn. As with most other filmed versions of the story, Finn's (Pip's) pursuit of Estella overrides all other themes. Unlike most other versions (and the novel), the film rushes to its conclusion after the benefactor's identity is revealed, although the final resolution of the protagonist's relationship to Estella is similar to the published novel.
Some critics thought that it stayed too close to the romantic plot and dragged on weakly although the visuals were often remarked to be beautiful. This version has been more popular with fans of the key actors.
