Customer Reviews
STOP PRESS!!! Dicken's Turns Over in his Grave!!!! - By: Mcfabb's Emporium, 08 Aug 2008 
This is possibly the worst film I have ever seen. I wish I had saved my money. I am giving one star for Anne Bancroft's bravura performance alone as the two leads, Ethan Hawke & Gwyneth Paltrow are completetly unbelievable, wooden, lacking "chemistry" & are quite vacuous & unengaging. The soundtrack music has got to be the most cringe-inducing load of cheesy kitsch I have heard in a long time. It almost becomes laughable with its obvious, predictable crescendos which underpin the pathetic attempts at portraying,depicting or conveying faux emotion.The director simply has no idea what kind of film he wants to make & the result is a hotch-potch of style & cliche. The biggest crime is in the complete annihilation of the spirit of Dicken's novel. There is no dramatic tension & the liberties which are taken with the basic narrative simply add up to a frustrating, disappointing evening's viewing.I am quite amazed that other reviewers had anything good to say about this turkey. If you want a clear insight into the narrative skill of Charles Dickens then please save your money. Forget this & rent the David Lean version on Blu-Ray instead.
Brilliant reworking of this classic tale. - By: Ms. Am Kennedy, 01 Oct 2007 
I didn't reallly expect much from this remake, but was pleasantly suprised.
Knowing the story quite well, I knew alll the different story lines that would crop up, but I found the story cleverly remade for a modern audience. Robert De Niro as the convict was an excellent bit of casting, shame we couldn't have seen more of him. Anne Bancroft as the Miss Haversham character was just right, she didn't ham it up as so many would have done. Don't expect the film to follow the book through every story line, book to film adaptations rarely manage this anyway. In alll I thought this film did capture the essence of the original story. Would recommend for nice rainy afternoon, not with the kids though as I nearly did, it is a 15 & does contain some mild sex/nudity scenes & a bit of swearing. Gran may not like it but I'm sure Auntie would.
transforming a classic in the right way - By: Mr. Ian A. Macfarlane, 16 Feb 2007 
'Great Expectations' is a wonderful novel, & the 1946 David Lean film is excellent & justly admired. This fairly recent adaptation attempts & achieves the very difficult task of providing something true to the spirit of these but significantly different from the letter. It is watchable from start to finish, beautifully cast, wonderfully filmed & full of memorable moments. It succeeds in working in its own right, & while it is never difficult to relate any scene to its equivalent in the book or the 1946 film, you don't want to do that ; it exists in its own right & is excellent.
"Somebody wants to turn this frog into a prince.", - By: Mary Whipple, 04 Nov 2004 With a sensational cast, haunting music, & great cinematography, this modern adaptation of Dickens's novel is far more fun & far more provocative than the original, however much one might like that novel. Set in a contemporary Gulf Coast village in Florida, Finnegan Bell (Ethan Hawke) is brought up by Joe (Chris Cooper), the lover of his sister, who has abandoned them both. A working class boy with a love of fishing & a gift for artwork, Finn is ten when escaped murderer Arthur Lustig (Robert DeNiro) surfaces one day while Finn is out exploring tidal pools. After helping him, Finn later forgets him.
Finn eventuallly meets Nora Dinsmore (Anne Bancroft), the richest woman in town, & her niece Estella (Gwyneth Paltrow), whom he has been hired to visit every Saturday. When Estella goes away to school, Finn loses touch with both of them, until, years later, he is suddenly invited to New York to show his artwork. A mysterious trust supports him, & he reconnects with Estella & alll the other characters from the past.
Director Alfonso Cuaron & screenwriter Mitch Glazer have created a modern story of obsession & revenge. Nora Dinsmore, who was jilted on the day of her wedding, thirty years before, has been training Estella, over the years, to tease & then destroy the men who love her. Anne Bancroft plays Nora to the hilt as a funky & exotic caricature, heavily made up, carrying a cigarette holder & martini glass, while gyrating to erotic music & chanting "Chick-a-boom." DeNiro is a vicious Lustig, & his first appearance is a shocker. Ethan Hawke, as Finn, does a good job, though he is hard pressed to hold his own when the rest of the cast is camping it up. Paltrow, as Estella, is coldly calculating in her sexual teasing, & lacking the vulnerability one expects. Chris Cooper, as the sympathetic Joe, provides the perfect foil for the other characters at key points in the film.
The lush cinematography (Emmanuel Lubezky) features Spanish moss, the eerie & dilapidated old house of Nora Dinsmore, lovely scenes of tidal pools & wild nature, & the hot New York art & café world. The director & producers have chosen nine different composers, ranging from Tory Amos to Iggy Pop, to create appropriate music for a succession of very different scenes, & they succeed in creating a haunting mood & atmosphere. Though the ending is abrupt & trite, the cast is terrific, & the film is great fun, especiallly in its contrasts to the Dickens novel. Mary Whipple
Great movie, great compositions, great expectations realised - By: , 06 Apr 2002 I watched this film, not expecting much but came out with a great sense of passion. This heart-rendering tale is told beautifully & superbly acted by an alll-star cast. Not to mention the soundtrack which I have to say blew me away & reduced me to tears! The dvd has great visuals & is a real must for any movie lover.
