Did not meet my expectations. In fact, like Pip in the novel, my expectations were frustrated in the end, and doubted throughout. At every point I was on uneven ground, which just made for a more frustrating movie watching experience. I have no idea why this movie was made. Seriously. It didn't need to be updated.
I don't think Great Expectations was ever conceptualized as a coming of age tale in the 80s and 90s. This is a time that doesn't need to be recorded. The poverty of Finn (Pip) was understated enough that it was unbelievable. I think at one point Joe ate at McDonald's. How very low brow.
Gwenyth Paltrow is a total bitch in this movie. I mean, Estella was supposed to be. But she is just SO unlikeable. This is the thing. It didn't seem like she was acting. Her conscious body displays seems so deceptive and twisted. You just know she is going to be impossible. She is the nastiest sort of tease... I don't know why anyone would like her. That said, she is probably a good match for Ethan Hawke, who is also completely unsympathetic.
I hate the idea that Finn is an artist. I don't buy it. Don't try and make this into a buildungsroman. I don't want to watch an artist grow up, and I really don't want to watch him rely on a muse who is a heinous bitch with no soul. The art in the movie was too interesting to be done by Ethan Hawke. If he drew at all, it would be very realistic, very unoriginal work. I think it would be mostly line drawings in pencil... and no one would ever believe he was the next big thing.
The main couple was so frustrating and unlikeable. Robert DeNiro is wonderful, and so is the guy who plays Joe. Both of those guys should have more screen time. The Miss Havisham character was about 40% of what I was hoping for. Without the wedding dress, it is hard to imagine her desperate sad, story and to feel the necessary sympathy and pity that makes her endearing...
I also hate that this quintessential British story was set in Florida. Florida. The class system isn't stringent in Florida. Nor is it in New York. These are not substitutes for the old world. It has to be in a place where class is very evident, identifiable by key markers that do not operate on a sliding scale. We need to see performance of class in more regards. I know Finn drives a pick-up instead of a luxury sedan... but that just didn't cut it. That said, the moustache is an interesting example of class markings. Only the poor ones have it in the movie. Heh.
Overall, I am not impressed with this adaptation. I think this book would be difficult to adapt, but at the same time, they could have done a better job. This isn't the story as it needs to be told. I look forward to a better adaptation... some day... and I hope that it is made by people with British affiliations.
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