Great Expectations (1998)

Modernization of Charles Dickens classic story finds the hapless Finn as a painter in New York City pursuing his unrequited and haughty childhood love.

Director:

Alfonso Cuarón

Writers:

Charles Dickens (novel), Mitch Glazer (screenplay)

Stars:

Ethan Hawke, Gwyneth Paltrow, Hank Azaria

1 win & 3 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Ethan Hawke	...	Finnegan Bell
Gwyneth Paltrow	...	Estella
Hank Azaria	...	Walter Plane
Chris Cooper	...	Joe
Anne Bancroft	...	Ms. Dinsmoor
Robert De Niro	...	Prisoner / Lustig
Josh Mostel	...	Jerry Ragno
Kim Dickens	...	Maggie
Nell Campbell	...	Erica Thrall
Gabriel Mann	...	Owen (as Gabriel Mick)
Jeremy James Kissner	...	Finnegan at Age 10
Raquel Beaudene	...	Estella at Age 10
Stephen Spinella	...	Carter Macleish
Marla Sucharetza	...	Ruth Shepard
Isabelle Anderson	...	Lois Pope

Storyline

Based on Charles Dickens' timeless tale, this is a story of the love of a man for an unreachable woman. Updated to modern day New York City, the story concerns a man of modest background who falls in love with a rich girl. But when a mysterious benefactor greenlights the man to make his dreams come true, everything done has the ultimate goal of making Estella fall in love with him...

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Plot Keywords:

love | gulf coast | florida | lawyer | girl | 

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Taglines:

Let desire be your destiny.

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Genres:

Drama | Romance

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for language and some sexuality

Details

Official Sites:

Official site

Country:

USA

Language:

English French Portuguese

Release Date:

30 January 1998 (USA)

Also Known As:

Grandes esperanzas

Filming Locations:

Astor Place, Manhattan, New York City, New York, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$25,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$9,593,290, 1 February 1998, Wide Release

Gross USA:

$26,333,044, 29 March 1998

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$55,494,066

Company Credits

Production Co:

Art Linson Productions, Twentieth Century Fox

Technical Specs

Runtime:

111 min

Sound Mix:

DTS Dolby Digital

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Ethan Hawke later dissed the film, calling it "a lousy experience". He added that he felt he had been talked into making the movie, something he realized about a month into shooting, which was then too late for him to pull out.

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Goofs

When Arthur Lustig visits Finn, Finn gives him his address as 111 Greenwhich St., which is south of the World Trade Center. The nearest subway stop is the Rector St. 1/9 train. Yet when Finn takes Arthur to the subway, they end up at the J/M/Z Chambers St. stop. When a subway train does come, miraculously it is the G train, which is the only train in the system that does not enter Manhattan at all. In addition, none of the above mentioned trains would take Arthur to JFK, his stated destination, without at least one transfer.

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Quotes

Finn: I did it! I did it! I am a wild success! I sold 'em all, all my paintings. You don't have to be embarrassed by me anymore. I'm rich! Isn't that what you wanted? Aren't we happy now? Don't you understand that everything I do, I do it for you? Anything that might be special in me, is you.

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Crazy Credits

The credits are accompanied by images of all the artwork drawn by Finnegan Bell (Ethan Hawke). They run the entire duration of credits.

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Connections

Referenced in Saturday Night Live: Gwyneth Paltrow/Barenaked Ladies (1999)

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Soundtracks

I Love Paris
Music by Cole Porter
Lyrics by Cole Porter

User Reviews

Romance with complete loyalty, determination and faith; hard to come upon these days.

For beginning, Alfonso Cuarón is one of my favourite directors; and this work of him puts together a great cast of actors: Gwyneth Paltrow, Ethan Hawke, Robert De Niro, Chris Cooper and Anne Bancroft. British novelist Charles Dickens's novel "Great Expectations" is the resource for this successful adaptation. I have read the novel, and it's an autobiographical drama and humour. I also saw the 1946 silver-screen adaptation, which was boring and indifferent than this novel; and I think it was indifferent on its own, as well. On the other hand, Alfonso Cuarón's Great Expectations is a transformation of a drama/comedy work of art into a romance. Besides, Alfonso Cuarón used his materials perfectly through matching the relations of these materials between each other:

1- Ms.Dinsmoor and her oath of revenge against mankind, that composes feminism 2- Estella and her enchanting beauty, falling the trap of pride 3- Finn and his pure emotions, falling the trap of loving an insensitive beauty 4- The mysterious benefactor of Finn who bears compunction of his past actions in his life and thus is laying down all of his possessions to Finn, whom he knows as a good-hearted little kid

The screenplay is so powerful that solidifies the plot with new original features including surrealist drawings of Finn, that turns the movie a real work of art. Estella is the inspiration of Finn, of his love, of his work, of his success, of his life, ultimately of himself; that he finds and pursues the love of his life all the time. In addition, he stays loyal to Estella. There is the one great qualification of this movie that, lovers always stay loyal to each other.

Although Estella has dated with rich businessmen and even married with them, she have always known that Finn was there waiting for her with complete determination and faith. They soon to come together to live happily ever after, like all the wholeheartedly love endings or non-endings. Read my synopsis for this movie, if you haven't got any chance yet to see it.