GREAT EXPECTATIONS (Twentieth-Century Fox) "Great Expectations" looks so incredibly beautiful and magnificently styled it takes you in practically from the first shot, and the luxuriant visuals continue throughout the movie as director Alfonso Cuaron carefully and precisely stages every scene for maximum opulence. Through his eyes even the subways of New York and the crumbling docks of Florida take on a kind of gritty glamor. The camera sweeps through the streets, soars into the sky and whirls around stars Ethan Hawke and Gwyneth Paltrow, creating some of the most striking cinematography in quite a while. Look closely and you'll see very calculated color schemes that set the mood of each moment. Listen and you'll hear a soundtrack that cleverly mixes many different kinds of music with effortless grace. This movie is a dessert for the eyes and ears. But "Great Expectations" is also like a stunning commercial that wows you but doesn't tell you much about the product. In the final analysis this modernization of the Charles Dickens classic has almost nothing to say and next to no emotional impact whatsoever. Dickens' novel was about the difficulties of transcending the rigid class system in mid-19th-century England; the movie ocassionally pays lip service to the idea of moving up in the world while retaining your principles, but primarily it's about a sweet-natured guy named Finn (Hawke) who can't get over his infatuation with a blonde knockout of a tease named Estella (Paltrow). What drives this obsession remains a mystery since Estella never reveals herself to be anything more than a pretty face with a cold mind. Any man with half-sense would have wised up after the first couple of years, but Finn's pursuit of her goes on for almost 20 years, as she repeatedly tantalizes him, arouses him, and then splits, usually without so much as a goodbye. It's difficult to see this kind of victimization as particularly romantic --unless you're a 13-year-old boy getting your heart pulverized for the first time by your own little Estella-- but Cuaron and company do everything in their power to make it look spectacular. Anyone with even the slightest interest in film production should see "Great Expectations" just to savor the richness of the design. But don't expect to come away from it feeling satisfied. Like its heroine, the movie is ultimately easier to admire than to embrace. James Sanford
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