Great Expectations (star)(star)(star)
Directed by Alfonso Cuaron
Starring Ethan Hawke (Finnegan Bell), Gwyneth Paltrow (Estella), Hank Azaria (Walter Plane), Chris Cooper (Joe), Anne Bancroft (Ms. Dinsmoor), Robert De Niro (Lustig)
Think of it as Great Expectations for the MTV generation. You wonıt need your Cliffıs notes for this one; itıs much easier to follow whatıs going on because itıs shorter and simpler. And thatıs not always a bad thing. Frankly, I didnıt mind the movie being set in the 20th century. And I didnıt mind some of the liberties. But I honestly minded two things. I minded a movie made about a novel I donıt really like. And I minded a movie that was afraid to get involved with its own story, despite some merciful editing and shortening of the original.
I have to reveal my prejudices up front. Dickens is not one of my favorite authors. His work, to put it bluntly, has always seemed sentimental and kitschy, and I know I am not alone in this opinion. So I canıt decide if this story of his is really worth doing in its entirety, if at all. This movie tries for a hip, rock-and-roll, MTV kind of Dickens, though I donıt know if MTV and Dickens mix. Kind of like spraypainting paisleys on the side of a subway train.
So to make the movie move, its creators jazzed it up and shortened it. Considerably. Mercifully (it is a 400 plus page novel). True to life, or at least Hollywoodıs version of life, the movie trims much of the fat from Dickensıs novel and leaves us with only the essentials: the boy, the girl, Joe and his shrewish wife (Pips, or in this case Finnıs, sister), the convict, the old woman, and Pipıs/Finnıs rival lover.
But when the movie eliminates what was bad or insufferable about the book it also gets rid of some of what was good. Take for instance the minor characters. Every Dickens novel is full of minor, colorful characters. They make (and break) his novels. They usually have more personality than his main character(s), although most are mere caricatures. The following minor characters are shrunk or cut entirely from the movie: the lawyer (almost a cameo in the movie), his assistant (missing), Pipıs boyhood and later young adulthood friend (missing), the woman who works for the lawyer (missing), and any action in court (missing).
So even though the movie makes the story watchable within a two hour time frame, its brevity makes it almost casual. Gone are the attachments we form to the loveable, motley cast of characters of the book. Whatıs left is sort of like a short, modern fairy tale. All in all, itıs not bad. It is beautifully shot (like any good music video is) and well acted, despite occasional intrusions of unkempt rock music and some bad makeup on DeNiroıs Lustig in the third act.
But I left feeling not quite satiated. Which, ironically, is the way Pip/Finn is supposed to feel after getting (almost) everything he really wants. But that is supposed to be him, not us feeling that way. When we see an allegedly great romance arenıt we supposed to be touched? To take the heat off the movie, I again think that some of the fault is in Dickensıs story. For a novel so long, it just was just too trivial, not ³great² enough. With expectations like these top draw from, the film is sort of doomed from the start.
Not much is embellished or added, except Finnıs new life and the perfunctory but very tastefully done, (as with nudity elsewhere in the movie) sex scene. (I hope doesnıt spoil the movie for anyone, but you knew they were going to get into bed sometime during the show.)
I grudgingly recommend the movie, which is short enough and entertaining enough for the younger set so they wonıt get bored, but not quite long enough or touching enough for the more mature crowd, who may leave the theatre wondering if they missed something more than just the minor characters. I wondered what the movie might have been like had its creators trusted in the (admittedly flawed but lengthy) story. I guess weıll never know. Again, maybe it canıt be done, given what there is to work with. So we may have Hollywood marketing men to thank for the sculpting of this move. These are the guys who tell studio execs that the demographics of moviegoers are weighted heavily in the 18 to 25 age group, and this was one movie that certainly wasnıt taking ANY chances taxing their attention span.
(c) 1998 Jonathan B. Williams
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