Great Expectations
"Wildly Romantic!" - David Ansen, Newsweek
"Ethan Hawke and Gwyneth Paltrow are dazzling" (Peter Travers, Rolling Stone) in this wildly romantic tale of desire and passion based on the timeless novel by Charles Dickens.
The moment young Finn sets eyes on Estella, she becomes his inspiration...and his obsession. Years later, thanks to a mysterious benefactor, aspiring artist Finn is off to New York, where he is reunited with the icy and beautiful Estella. When she agrees to model for him, Finn's dearest hopes may at last be realized-along with his darkest fears!
Co-Starring Anne Bancroft and Robert DeNiro, this must see love story (National News Syndicate) paints a lush portrait of two people from different worlds who are linked by destiny, and fated to touch each other's souls.
Member Reviews
Pretty darn good - Poet
I really loved this movie. The story was compelling and the movie was beautifully shot. The acting was mostly solid, with a few exceptions (Ethan Hawke was uneven in some parts).
I watched this one mostly because De Niro was in there. He was not seen a lot in this one, but I appreciated the whole thing. Honorable mention to Chris Cooper, he did some fine acting here.One of the best movies ever! - AnnaK
Personally, I will never look at a drinking fountain the same way again! This movie is so sexy, brilliant, beautifully shot, heatwrenching, fantastic performances - absolute 5/5. A total pleasure every single second. I love movies that are like books, and usually hate movies based on books. Great Expectations exceeded my expectations and then some!
Note when zipping this one: The whole movie played inside a tiny box on the screen, like widescreen gone terribly wrong... maybe a wonky DVD transfer?Great Expectations (1998) - AppsScraps
Based on the classic Charles Dickens book of the same name and starring a very young looking Ethan Hawke and Gwyneth Paltrow, this Alfonso Cuaron directed film - while pretty to look at - is not even a third as good as David Lean's 1948 classic. Leave it to the Americans to take something classic and mess it all up. The story has been transplanted to New York City, hence the arrival of Robert De Niro, playing the part of Magwitch. While the film stays true to the original story at the outset, using a backwater Sarasota as Finn Bell's (aka Pip's) home and Ca d'Zan as Ms Dinsmoor's (played by the always wonderful Anne Bancroft) Havisham-esque mansion, things go astray when young Bell heads to New York City to find Estella and make it famous as an artist. The innate problem with this film is the edge needed to make the plot truly meaningful. Bell is not near enough kindhearted or poor to make his transformation mean something while Estella is not near cruel enough to make her key purpose, that of heartbreaker, plausible. What's left is a shadow of the real version, perhaps better called Middling Expectations.
My rating 5 out of 10.
Member Reviews
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Pretty darn good - Poet
I really loved this movie. The story was compelling and the movie was beautifully shot. The acting was mostly solid, with a few exceptions (Ethan Hawke was uneven in some parts).
I watched this one mostly because De Niro was in there. He was not seen ...One of the best movies ever! - AnnaK
Personally, I will never look at a drinking fountain the same way again! This movie is so sexy, brilliant, beautifully shot, heatwrenching, fantastic performances - absolute 5/5. A total pleasure every single second. I love movies that are like books, and ...Great Expectations (1998) - AppsScraps
Based on the classic Charles Dickens book of the same name and starring a very young looking Ethan Hawke and Gwyneth Paltrow, this Alfonso Cuaron directed film - while pretty to look at - is not even a third as good as David Lean's 1948 classic. Leave it to ...