Rating: 
Summary: Beatiful movie-I love green too
Review: I am ashamed to tell that I have not read the book, hopefully I will. But I liked this movie, it is beautiful and sensual. The plot is about a poor boy who falls in love with cold beautiful rich girl living with her eccentric aunt. She breaks his heart, but he is lucky enough to be a famous artist after being sponsored by an ex criminal becoming rich whom he helped when he was a kid.
I watched it as a love story though some moral is hinted (I believe the book has more philosophy and morals)The atmosphere is so captivating with greens, the crazy aunt, the kids dancing, the super music, the beautiful sketches, that one does not care if this is a sensible movie with well constructed characters and supporting dialogues. Well, it is not, anyway...
Finally, here goes a beautiful movie, a delight to watch and listen especially if you like romance. A must [see]
Rating: 
Summary: What can I say, I LOVE this movie
Review: Actually worship is probably more fitting. I never read the Dickens book, and don't plan to...this movie surpasses any great expectations about the book I have. This is just the most visually beautiful movie I have ever seen. Not just the leads, who are georgeous, but the settings and the music as well. I like Gwyneth and Ethan as actors in general and have always thought they are 2 of the finest that generation X has to offer. But in this movie, they are spectacular. These were Oscar caliber performances and impossible to recreate in any previous effort of this tale. A main plus, is the fact that Alfonso Cuaron directed this movie, which is why it is so stunning to look at (his film A Little Princess is just at mesmerizing, although not as good in my opinion). But everytime I watch this movie, something else stands out and amazes me even more...it's just a hypnotic movie to watch. And the score that plays throughout is one of the greatest ever, and really allows you to FEEL the emotion and pain and anger than Finn feels. The same could be said for Mono's beautiful song over the credits. Just all around great film making and acting for any fans of truly magnificent movies.
Rating: 
Summary: Dickens tale takes a whole new look
Review: great new look at Charles Dickens great classic Great Expectations with Ethan Hawke, a grand and awesome Finnegan Bell and Gwyneth Paltrow, (nice looking) and sultry in the part of the one Hawke loves deeply. other actors like Robert DeNiro, Anne Bancroft, Kim Dickens, Chris Cooper, Josh Mostel and Hank Azaria play good roles as well, especially DeNiro as the convict. powerful and seductive. this one is great.
Rating:
Summary: Better Than the Original!
Review: This movie was better than the original b&w. Ethan Hawke makes a handsome Pip...although his name is different here. This movie's main focus is the relationship between him and Estella. There is great chemistry there. My favorite part is when Estella runs afteer him in the rain. I love the idea of Pip as an artist and when he meets the con man years later. The camera shots are excellently placed in all angles and the lighting gives the characters a natural look. The soundtrack is awesome too. The songs were placed in the right spots to raise the emotion you will feel for the characters. Did I mention how hot Ethan is?!
Rating:
Summary: Better than the book...thankfully
Review: I really didn't want to watch this movie...I was forced by friends. I remember reading the book a few years back in Freshman English and I absolutely HATED this book. And it's very rare that I hate a book. But this movie was wonderful (although a slight crush on Ethan Hawke might have upped its greatness)I would recommend this movie to almost anyone.
Rating:
Summary: Wonderful movie with a great cast
Review: I've only seen this once and I really liked it. From what I remember, the story is about a boy and a girl who although they love each other, for some reason the girl is reluctant to get romantically involved with the guy. It chronicles his rise from a nine year old helping a stranger with some food and a bottle of booze to a not-so-starving artist, still pining for his childhood love, played by Gwyneth Paltrow. Awesome movie and although the ending can be seen from miles, the climax is very unexpected. Ethan Hawke playes the lonesome artist, and Robert DeNiro plays the ex-con he helped out as a child. To say much more would ruin it. I highly recommend this movie for any great literature fan, but for the drama lover, it's a treat that comes around not very often. Great cast, wonderful production, fabulous story.
The only reason I gave it 4 stars is because I don't know what's on the disc on the way of special features. I'm a special features buff. Recognize.
Rating:
Summary: What life should be like
Review: A pursuit of happiness where nothing else stands in the way, where if our heart breaks it will be the least of our worries as the journey will have been well worth it.
Rating:
Summary: Decent update of the original film
Review: Great Expectations 1998 is a moody, colorful, exciting and sexy romp through the story originally penned by Charles Dickens over a hundred years ago. The characters of Estella and Pip are updated, as played by Gwenyth Paltrow and Ethan Hawke, to today's sensibilities. It's not done badly either. Anne Bancroft as the ecentric great aunt to Paltrow's character is a force to be reckoned with. I got the feeling that Bancroft was "doing" another actress in acting her part - it took me a few minutes and then I realized that she was playing the part as Ruth Gordan would have played it - and looked.All in all the film isn't bad. It's got its really sexy moments and its tense moments and its heart warming moments - just as did the original. And the mystery of who is Finn's benefactor is still there. However, Dickens' story is more than a two hour film can hold. Some of the really wonderful nuances that are in the story are forced out due to time constraints. It doesn't really hinder the story, but if you know the original story, the film seems rushed in places. In fact, I would have ranked the film higher if it hadn't been named "Great Expectations," because it's not really the whole story. It would have been more fun to update it as has been done and then name it something else, giving credit to Dicken's famous novel. Hawke (whom I really dislike on a regular basis) is quite good in this film (to me, he always looks as if he needs to bathe - yet, here he looks nicely scrubbed and clean). His Finn is a likable and beleivable "Pip." Paltrow doesn't do badly either, but her character really isn't as three dimensional as it could be. Check this film out and I'm sure you'll enjoy it. Just don't expect to be able to watch this film instead of reading your English Lit assignment and expect to get the same benefit.
Rating:
Summary: "My Heart Is Broken"; Very Romantic Version of Dickens Novel
Review: Argualbly Charles Dickens' most accomplished novel "Great Expectations" has much to offer; social satire, comedy, thriller, and romance. If you want most romantic film version of this beloved novel, you should watch this one. Mexican Alfonso Cuaron changed all the settings of the original more radically than in his previous work, excellent "Little Princess." Pip, a lonely boy who is raised by his sister, is now called Finn, who draws pictures for a beautiful but cool girl Estella. Yes, as in the novel, Pip/Finn encounters this woman of fate in the garden of deserted house where eccentric Ms. Dinsmoor (= Miss Havisham of the original) lives her secluded life. There is no muddy marshes of Rochester, England, but the place is changed to Florida, USA, and Finn, who is raised by kind fisherman Joe, unexpectedly gains a chance to be an aspiring artist in New York with a help from unknown benefactor. The plot change may dismay some fans of the book, but David Lean's acclaimed version of "Great Expectations" has also changed its ending, so let's not talk about it. Cuaron intentionaly dropped all the satrical aspects of the novel so that we can be immersed in the world of romance between Ethan Hawke's Finn and Gwyneth Paltrow's Estella. Both actors hold the center of the romancic relationship well, and we have good help from Anne Bancroft (a bit campy Dinsmoor) and Robert DeNiro. And you also can witness then comparatively unknown Chris Cooper's wide range of acting. But the greatest merit of the film comes from the team behind these actors; the dazzling photography of Emmanuel Lubezki ("Little Princess") gives life to the director's trademark color green, and Patrick Doyle ("Sense and Sensibility") provides fantastic score for the scenes. And most of all, we must remember the name of the real painter of Finn's drawings, Francesco Clemente, whose uniquely sensual style infuses power and authenticity to the character of Finn. (If you want to see this hugely talented Italy-born genius, watch "Good Will Hunting," where he appears briefly as a hypnotist.) Naturally, this kind of interpretation of classic novels can be risky, and "Great Expectations" has to pay some price. The film loses its momentum a little in latter half, owing to less amount of romance seen in this part -- this is one of the rare cases in which New York on screen is not as fascinating as it should be. And because of the story's twist concerning DeNiro's character, I am afraid that some may be led to doubt the artistic values of Finn's pictures. Don't be wrong; Finn's (or Clemente's) talent is a real thing.
Rating:
Summary: Luscious and Vivid Beauty!
Review: I saw this movie at the 1998 Sundance Film Festival and truely loved it. I think what the movie impressed me with was the way all the scenes melt and blend into one luscious bite. I also happened to meet the director later that same night and he was very kind and gracious to speak and talk about the filming of the movie. There are downsides to the movie but are only minor in comparison.
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