Rating: 
Summary: "Moll" in name only...
Review: this is one of the worst film adaptations of "moll" i've ever seen-- it's about as true to the novel as demi moore's "scarlett letter" was to that novel-- if you want the real spirit of moll, check out the bbc version w/alex kingston.
Rating:
Summary: NOT Moll Flanders
Review: This movie is so unlike the book that it should be illegal to call it by the same name! Daniel Defoe achieved one of the great early novels in Moll Flanders, and this version has completely castrated it. Robin Wright is weak (although it's really not her fault -- her role was hamstrung). And would can even imagine where Morgan Freeman's character came into the picture? There is no such character in the book. After the first 15 minutes of this movie, it isn't Moll Flanders at all. And it's a poor excuse for a story no matter what it's called. It's not a strong woman's story of triumph over adversity. It's a pathetic girl's story of whining and crying. Buy or rent Moll Flanders with Alex Kingston. You'll be glad you did!
Rating:
Summary: NOT Moll Flanders
Review: This movie is so unlike the book that it should be illegal to call it by the same name! Daniel Defoe achieved one of the great early novels in Moll Flanders, and this version has completely castrated it. Robin Wright is weak (although it's really not her fault -- her role was hamstrung). And would can even imagine where Morgan Freeman's character came into the picture? There is no such character in the book. After the first 15 minutes of this movie, it isn't Moll Flanders at all. And it's a poor excuse for a story no matter what it's called. It's not a strong woman's story of triumph over adversity. It's a pathetic girl's story of whining and crying. Buy or rent Moll Flanders with Alex Kingston. You'll be glad you did!
Rating: 
Summary: An unbreakable spirit!
Review: This treatment of Moll Flanders may be off the novel, but it was so good. The costumes had a some Victorian touches, which made the settings more fantasized. Robin Wright played a clever and tender Moll and her bitter scenes were played with real feeling. I think the artist should have killed Mrs. Allworthy when he had the chance. ::Slaps her:: She was nothing but trouble for Moll, but more so for Mr. Hibble, played with fervent solemnity by Morgan Freeman. But she got what she deserved in the end. I loved the happy ending when Flora is reunited with her mother. See this one and feel the feeling of hope breaking through pain.
Rating:
Summary: Gag Me With a Pitchfork, This Is Not True Moll Flanders!
Review: Without a doubt, this is one of THE WORST adaptations of one of my all-time favorite books. DeFoe creates a complex character of questionable morals with Moll Flanders-but this movie adaptation Americanizes and Puritanizes any true resonance of a believable and even intriguing persona. Morgan Freeman brings some glimmer of validity to this movie but his attempts fall short with such a ridiculously gutted plot of the original book. If you truly want to be surprised and delighted and shocked and horrified and held in suspense-read the book! It's amazing. The PBS version with ER's Elizabeth Cordaay(sp?) rings a little more true but honestly this version with Robin Wright is only a pale comparison to a truly rich text. If you haven't read the book, you might enjoy this pathetic cinematic attempt to glorify the santity of motherhood and it's utterly conventional plot-mother separated from child who spends the rest of the time making a good life for herself to get her child back(in the book Moll gives birth to not 1 but around 10 or 11 kids-all of whom she abandons when necessity prevails). Moll is no candidate for sainthood, but this is why the book was so truly wonderful-she's someone you find yourself rooting for despite her wicked, wicked ways...and oh how we relish in them...! Much like Milton's Paradise Lost, DeFoe fails to make us repent in light of what happens to Moll(&Lucifer). In my opinion, the way these two are riveted with flaws makes them all the more compelling and this is why I can denounce this movie adaptation with such conviction!
| 
