Rating: 
Summary: Great Expectations...the movie
Review: I thought the movie was wonderful. It had passion and romance and suspense. The charachters especially play an awsome part in the movie. I recommend this to anyone needing to rent a movie, also, read the book by either Dicken's or Chiel. They are both fantastic. I LOVE YOU ANDREW HART:)
Rating: 
Summary: An OK movie; not the book.
Review: This movie is not the book. It is a fun movie to see to engage yourself in an evening with some popcorn; not supurb acting, directing, and writing, but not awful either. Nothing deep, the storyline engages. The only problem is the title. It should not have been called Great Expectations- it has nothing really to do with the original, excellent book. This is not even a modern remake, like the 1998 Romeo & Juliet; it *is* certianly in modern times, but focuses almost exclusively on the romantic relationship between the two primary characters. This of course was not Dickens' primary focus- indeed the relationship between him and the convict in the book is infinetly more central and interesting, and the story is the growth of a young man, affected by Estella. Only loosely based on the original story, and removed from the culture and time period, it would have been more honest to give the movie a different name and marketing. Then they need to make a true remake of Great Expectations that does justice to the author's work.
Rating:
Summary: Expect great things...
Review: I like this movie a lot. It isn't exactly true to the "letter of the law" of Dickens' story, obviously, but the spirit of it doesn't stray far from the book. Visually entrancing, (both architecturally and Gwynethesquely), and humanly real, you really find yourself getting on the side of Finn. What is with this Ethan Hawke guy, anyway? Uma Thurman as his real life leading lady, Gwyneth Paltrow as his leading lady on film... I'd have a hard time choosing between fantasy and reality in his shoes. Well, clearly he's doing something right, and he seems like a good guy, so, way to go Ethan!Also, there are many really beautiful passages in here, in Finn's occasional, Bladerunner-ish voiceovers. I wrote one on a notecard and put it on my wall. It goes like this -- "And I could still draw. Nothing had lessened it, as much as I had abused it, as much as I had abandoned it. It was a gift, and it was still mine. And everything else was less real. What could it mean?! A picture of the world... But when it's true, we recognize it. In ourselves, in others -- we RECOGNIZE it! Like love. Completely undeserved." Isn't that terrific??? Whatever your personal gifts might be, O reader, that line packs an inspirational wallop, as far as I'm concerned. There are loads of great lines like that in here, and any chance to see Gwyneth strut her stuff, haughtily or not, is always worth the price of a movie. Absolutely worth checking out.
Rating:
Summary: This Version Surpasses Usual Expectations
Review: Classics are timeless. That phrase would make a swell catch line for a khakis ad campaign. In this case, though, it applies to Great Literature. Not only is a classic novel timeless, but as this contemporary version of Great Expectations shows, it can sometimes even survive time tampering. The movie century-shifts Charles Dickens's 1861 novel from Victorian England to modern America. The film doesn't exactly improve on the original, but the present day interpretation does work surprisingly well. Beloved by high school English teachers practically since its publication, Great Expectations follows the rising fortunes of an orphan named Pip. In this new version, Pip has been rechristened Finn (Hawke), lives on Florida's Gulf Coast and eventually becomes a famous artist in Manhattan. The novel's dotty Miss Havisham, a nut job since she was jilted on her wedding day decades ago, has morphed here into Ms. Dinsmoor (Anne Bancroft), a wrinkled glamor-puss clad in silk lounging pajamas who dances the samba and bellows, "Chickaboom, chickaboom." And Estella, Miss Havisham's ward and Pip's dream girl in the novel, is still called Estella (Paltrow) and remains an icy heartbreaker. Dickens was a master at propelling plot and creating vivid characters, and director Alfonso Cuarón (A Little Princess) and screenwriter Mitch Glazer (Three of Hearts) are smart enough to stick by their source material. At times, though, you wish they had not been quite so faithful and had been more audacious in the ways they modernized the story. Still, their new vision of the tale is provocative enough that plenty of viewers will be inspired to crack open dusty copies of Expectations to compare and contrast -- a worthy achievement in itself for any movie. Paltrow is sensational. Her Estella has such razor-sharp edges, you suspect she hones herself daily just so that no man can ever catch her without badly cutting himself. Hawke has a harder time of it with his love-struck Finn, never getting too much beyond making big puppy eyes. And Bancroft so overdoes her crazy crone bit, she could be channeling Norma Desmond from Sunset Boulevard. Updated Dickens at it's best.
Rating:
Summary: Fullfilled MY expectations
Review: I saw this movie for the first time a couple of years ago, and was pleasantly surprised. I had heard not-so-great things about it from a friend, but rented it anyhow and was so pleasantly suprised! Ethan Hawke is rapidly becoming one of my favorite actors, and Gwyneth Paltrow, despite the Hollywood mania over the infamous Shakespeare in Love is wonderful in it too. They work together very well. To make things ever better, the soundtrack is supurb as well! If you like movies in the artistic trend of Stealing Beauty (one of my other favorite movies!) this one should tickle your fancy as well.
Rating:
Summary: The BEST movie in a while!
Review: I have seen this movie many many times and finally I am going to buy it because it is my absolute favorite, and I don't normally buy movies. I think it is a beautiful movie artistically, and to watch the interplay between Ethan and Gwyneth is so great its painful! The director masterfully makes us feel so much with little to no words. My favorite is the Asian restaurant scene--don't we all wish we could have that kind of passion. Anway, get this movie, keep an open mind to its artistic value, and you will like it as much as me. I also own the soundtrack, which is great. This is an often overlooked movie but I promise it is amazing.
Rating:
Summary: Great Movie
Review: This was, a good movie I liked it the performences were great, I don't read Charles Dickins books but this was a good movie you'll like it hopefully.
Rating:
Summary: A Great Adaptation
Review: What most people do not understand is that it is litterally impossible to make a movie that is exactly like a great novel. In many movies made from original novels, there are many important aspects missing from the novel. However, in this particular movie, they exactly knew that the movie couldn't be exactly like the book, so they concectrated on the most interesting part of the book- that is the character. If you carefully read the book and watched the movie, then you will know that the impressions of the characters you get from the book and the movie are very similiar. Ethan Hawke and Gweneth Paltrow do an amazing job creating the images of their characters, and it works really well.
Rating: 
Summary: Sorry - my expectations were greater
Review: The talents of Gwyneth Paltrow, Ethan Hawke and (especially) Robert de Niro are completely wasted in this clueless, in-name-only version of Charles Dickens' "Great Expectations". If you've read the book, do not see this movie - it will only confuse you. If you haven't read the book, I suggest you do so, and give this movie the widest berth possible. In this version, the chief character of Pip has suddenly changed his name to "Finn". The marshes of England have relocated to the Florida Everglades. Pip's....sorry, Finn's...sister actually *likes* him. The decidedly nineteenth-century values and storyline have been largely discarded, but nothing has been provided to replace them, which renders the whole scenario ridiculous. Who the hell dreamed up this load of rubbish? Does it strike anyone else as presumptuous in the extreme to make changes such as these to an accepted classic of English literature? Granted, the lead actors all do their best, as usual, but they can only do so much - this one borders on unwatchable.
Rating:
Summary: Different from the book
Review: If you liked the book, you probably wouldn't enjoy this movie that greatly. There was a great deviation from the novel by Charles Dickens. However, I think Ethan Hawke and Gwyneth Paltrow had a lot of chemistry and they showed that to the audience through the movie.
|
