Modernization of Charles Dickens' classic story finds the hapless Finn as a painter in New York City pursuing his unrequited and haughty childhood love.
Check out our gallery of the 2021 Golden Globe nominees in the leading and supporting acting categories, as the characters they so brilliantly played and in real life
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.Written by
Steve Richer <sricher@sympatico.ca>
Ethan Hawke later admitted he was not fond of the story due to its main theme of classism but was intrigued by Alfonso Cuaron's artistic modernization of it and was eager to work with him and Robert DeNiro. He also notes that despite good reviews, it did not do well in the box office due to it being released during James Cameron's Titanic mania, but did rather well in the home rental market, VHS (and DVD) sales, and movie channel views. To this day, people still approach Ethan and tell him this is one of their favorite romantic movies. See more »
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. See more »
Quotes
Finn:
What's it like not to feel anything?
Estella:
Let's say there was a little girl, and from the time she could understand, she was taught to fear... let's say she was taught to fear daylight. She was taught that it was her enemy, that it would hurt her. And then one sunny day, you ask her to go outside and play and she won't. You can't be angry at her can you?
Finn:
I knew that little girl and I saw the light in her eyes, and no matter what you say or do, that's still what I see.
Estella:
We are who we are. People don't ...
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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. See more »
I loved this film, it was simply well made for this modern time. I read the book by Charles Dickens and it is quite different, but very enjoyable.You never know do you? It was a bit confusing, I mean Gwyneth Paltrow's character, I guess you could say she was unique. And I understood Ethan Hawkes character perfectly. Wonderful film, I'd recommend it to anyone.
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I loved this film, it was simply well made for this modern time. I read the book by Charles Dickens and it is quite different, but very enjoyable.You never know do you? It was a bit confusing, I mean Gwyneth Paltrow's character, I guess you could say she was unique. And I understood Ethan Hawkes character perfectly. Wonderful film, I'd recommend it to anyone.