Great Expectations

R

Released Jan 30, 1998

1 hr. 51 min.

Drama

List

39%

36 Reviews

Tomatometer

55%

25,000+ Ratings

Audience Score

Loosely based on the Charles Dickens' classic novel, "Great Expectations" is a sensual tale of a young man's unforgettable passage into manhood, and the three individuals who will undeniably change his life forever. Through the surprising interactions of these vivid characters, "Great Expectations" takes a unique and contemporary look at life's great coincidences.

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Critics Consensus

Great Expectations is all surface tension: beautiful people shot in beautiful locations without any depth or emotion.

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Alec B

A noble effort of sorts. The problem isn't the modernization but rather the romance which is mostly lifeless and dull.

Rated 2 out of 5 stars

02/21/24

Full Review

J K

This film has aged better than people would like to admit.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

01/14/24

Full Review

Farah R

If there were the worst way to reimagine a classic tale for a modern audience, it'd be this one. Great Expectations barely scratches the surface of Dickens' themes and chooses to focus on aesthetics alone—a bunch of pretty actors in pretty shots and nothing more. There's no depth nor substance.

Rated 2 out of 5 stars

12/16/23

Full Review

Steve D

Unimaginably bad especially for fan of the book.

Rated 0.5 out of 5 stars

09/21/23

Full Review

Geo

Yall just haters. Great movie. Takes you on a journey. And you are all miserable (millennial thinkers - it'sa state of mind). You don't enjoy the food you eat or the air you breathe. You have no attention span and you ate here because you lack in life. This movie and many like it are your kryptonote, and you try your hardest to strike them down. At the end of the day, you fear meaning and you lack life. You will pass, but this timeless piece will outlive you. Proceed.

Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars

02/15/23

Full Review

John F

The movie was extremely slow moving for me. Yes, it had beautiful people and beautiful settings. The artwork was banal, but then, the lead wasn't supposed to be a great artist anyway. There were just too many scenes of "she looks at him," "he looks at her," without any real interaction going on. Add in all the interminable pauses in all those worthless scenes, and you get a dud of a movie. It doesn't stack up to Dickens, and his classic novel. The interaction with Robert DeNiro far outstripped the love relationship, and that in itself is a sad commentary on the film.

Rated 1 out of 5 stars

02/06/23

Full Review

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Alfonso Cuarón

Director

Ethan Hawke

Finnegan 'Finn' Bell

Gwyneth Paltrow

Estella

Hank Azaria

Walter Plane

Chris Cooper

'Uncle' Joe

Anne Bancroft

Ms. Nora Dinsmoor

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Ruthe Stein

San Francisco Chronicle

Rated: 1/4

Jun 18, 2002

Full Review

Globe and Mail

Rated: 3/4

Apr 12, 2002

Full Review

Russell Smith

Austin Chronicle

Rated: 4.5/5

Jan 1, 2000

Full Review

Dan DiNicola

The Daily Gazette (Schenectady, NY)

The film has a defining contemporary hipness, and features good work by Ethan Hawke and Gwyneth Paltrow. But it's more a meditation on its source than a filming of it.

Rated: B+

Jan 19, 2023

Full Review

PJ Nabarro

Patrick Nabarro

Where the film fails is in its commercial proclivity to centre the narrative trajectory around a fairly asinine updating of the Pip/Estella love-match into a soppy romance.

Rated: 3/5

Jan 27, 2019

Full Review

Grace Montgomery

Common Sense Media

Visually stunning retelling has nudity, lots of swearing.

Rated: 3/5

Jun 8, 2016

Full Review

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Synopsis

Loosely based on the Charles Dickens' classic novel, "Great Expectations" is a sensual tale of a young man's unforgettable passage into manhood, and the three individuals who will undeniably change his life forever. Through the surprising interactions of these vivid characters, "Great Expectations" takes a unique and contemporary look at life's great coincidences.

Director: Alfonso Cuarón
Executive Producer: Deborah Lee
Screenwriter: Charles Dickens, Mitch Glazer
Distributor: 20th Century Fox
Production Co: Twentieth Century Fox
Rating: R (Some Sexuality|Language)
Genre: Drama
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Jan 30, 1998, Wide
Release Date (Streaming): Mar 1, 2013
Box Office (Gross USA): $26.3M
Sound Mix: Dolby SR, DTS, Dolby Stereo, Surround, Dolby A, Dolby Digital
Aspect Ratio: Scope (2.35:1)

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