Great Expectations (1997)
Director: Alfonso Cuarón
Movie review
From Time Out Film Guide
While remaining largely faithful to the narrative thrust of Dickens' novel, Cuarón's version is hugely different from the David Lean classic, displaying all the wit, vitality and unpretentious assurance the Mexican brought to his delightful A Little Princess. It kicks off with orphan Finn (Hawke) fatefully making the acquaintance of an escaped con (De Niro), crazy old Nora Dinsmoor (Bancroft), and her beautiful niece Estella (Paltrow) in '70s Florida; before fast-forwarding to '80s New York where, as a promising artist, Finn continues to pursue his childhood beloved, now engaged to rich, snobby Walter (Azaria). The transposition to modern America works very well. Since we're advised from the start that we're about to see the story not as it happened, but as it's remembered by the older, wiser Finn, both the magical, natural paradise of the Everglades and the success-oriented New York art world beautifully evoke the twin poles of hopeful innocence and harsh experience. Cuarón plays up this fabulous romance, never departing from Finn's obsessive view of the bewilderingly changeable Estella, and underlining the cruel ironies of a life transformed yet tainted by love. Stylish, sexy, involving, and great fun.Author: GA
User reviews of this film
-
- Ze Queen said...
- Posted on Dec 04 2007 15:50 It's rather slutty for a Dickens work, but I enjoyed it. It was dark and tragic and rather amusing. Nevertheless, I hate Estella anyways because she's a heartless fiend.
- Report as inappropriate
Cast & crew
Director: Alfonso Cuarón
Producer: Art Linson
Cast: Ethan Hawke, Gwyneth Paltrow, Hank Azaria, Chris Cooper, Anne Bancroft, Robert De Niro, Josh Mostel, Kim Dickens full cast
Duration: 111 mins
Most popular on this site
Top Stories
Hippies who work for The Man
To celebrate George Clooney comedy 'The Men who Stare at Goats', we look back at six memorable onscreen hippies who fought the system from within
Roland Emmerich's guide to disaster movies
Ahead of the release of '2012', Roland Emmerich offers his ten tips on creating the perfect global catastrophe
Grant Heslov: interview
Grant Heslov, director of 'The Men who Stare at Goats' talks about his old pal George Clooney, his interest in the paranormal, and his fond memories of working on 'Happy Days'
The Coen brothers discuss 'A Serious Man'
Masters of contrary comedy, Joel and Ethan Coen have struck gold again with their latest, ‘A Serious Man’
Ten inspirations behind 'Avatar'?
Time Out ponders the influences behind James Cameron's anticipated space-opera on the basis of the trailer
Michael Jackson's This Is It: review
Kenny Ortega's posthumous concert film is a rousing eulogy for one of pop's great enigmas
Michael Haneke: The man behind the menace
From Cannes to Munich to London, Dave Calhoun tours Michael Haneke's Palme d'Or winner, 'The White Ribbon'
Lone Scherfig talks 'An Education'
Danish director Lone Scherfig was an unlikely choice for a very English affair like 'An Education'. Cath Clarke meets her
How Jane Campion brought John Keats back to life
Time Out gets Romantic with the ‘difficult’ New Zealander about her new film, 'Bright Star'
Time Out's 50 greatest animated films with commentary by Terry Gilliam
In celebration of the release of Pixar's 'Up' and Wes Anderson's 'Fantastic Mr Fox', read our rundown of fifty classic feature length animations












What do you think?
Post your review now