"Great Expectations" (1998): What Works/What Doesn't

When Pip/Ethan Hawke was "Finn," Gwyneth played a veritable B-, and Mrs. Robinson/Anne Bancroft scared the bejesus out of us

A Promising Start?

Occasionally, remakes or adaptations of existing works can be successful endeavors. Take It Chapters 1 & 2 (highly recommend), or Greta Gerwig’s Little Women (although not entirely unflawed). I’ve heard the new Dune films with Zendaya and Timothee Cham-a-lay-lay are quite good. And Lessons in Chemistry, as far as book adaptations go, was masterful. [Read why it made my "Best of 2023" list]

Coincidentally, Cham-a-lay-lay was also in Little Women. I’m torn on the merits of the Wonka remake, because while Cham-a-lay-lay is a triple threat, the film was a little bit of a shlock-fest, even if I secretly relished it.

And then there’s the 1998 adaptation of a beloved Dickensian classic updated for a contemporary audience into a Gen X revue-fashioned cringe-fest love story known as Great Expectations. The film exudes such a quintessential Baz Luhrmann flair that if someone claimed it was one of his film school projects, it would be entirely believable. However, the surprising truth is that this vibrant and stylized work is an early effort from Alfonso Cuarón, the visionary director behind profoundly substantive cinema like Children of Men and Roma. You don’t feel that depth here.

Is this Joni Mitchell or Gwyneth Paltrow playing Estella?

Nonetheless, the collective star power of two of Hollywood’s hottest actors of that time - the coolest, mumbling & stumbling while-talking Gen X actor to ever grace a Richard Linklater script, Ethan Hawke, and Gen X’s Queen Gwynnie whose effortless litheness and exalted rank can best summed up by one word and it rhymes with “Shoop.”

Coincidentally, “Shoop” is also the name of my favorite hip-hop song by duo Salt-N-Pepa. (Credit: Shannon, my bestie from Interlochen Arts Camp Summer of 1993 for introducing me to the band. Before that, it was all Richard Marx for me.)

Film Synopsis - Kid Trauma & Mucked Up Adults

For those unfamiliar with the book Great Expectations, the story centers around a poor orphan, named Pip (here, he’s Finn aka Ethan Hawke) living with his aunt/uncle. As a child, he is accosted by and aids a dangerous and unsavory felon named Abel Magwitch who has escaped prison. In the movie, Abel is transformed into Arthur Lustig (played by Robert De Niro). Finn/Pip’s defining action of helping Arthur/Abel is later financially compensated when said prisoner becomes Finn/Pip’s benefactor and he inherits great wealth. Finn/Pip falls in love with another orphan, Estella (Gwyneth Paltrow), who is being groomed to break Finn/Pip’s heart by an eccentric, and psychologically twisted, wealthy woman Miss Havisham (or as we called her in high school “Miss Have-no-shame”). Here she’s called Ms. Dinsmoor which is well-suited to her.

Side Note: In defense of Miss Havisham, in the book, there’s a connection between Magwitch and Havisham via Havisham’s ex-fiance/former love, Compeyson. The presence of this character gives us greater empathy for why Miss Havisham is the way she is. Absent that, we just get a “cooky old lady.” Cue Mrs. Robinson:

The formidable Anne Bancroft - stuck in a camp parody.

Characters (That Work)

Chris Cooper as Joe (Finn’s guardian and the true hero of the film). Cooper does what he does best here. He acts the part of the nice, normal guy you root for. And because Paltrow and Hawke are too tragically self-aware to the detriment of their portrayals, Cooper’s stands out even more.

Cooper as Joe, the honest, “uncouth” father figure to a pretentious Finn

Pseudo Intellectual Reviews articulates the captivating nature of Cooper's performance”

So it’s Chris Cooper who walks away with the Best Actor award in this movie. He is Joe, in all his uncouth, warm-hearted glory. The top-billed actors all seem slightly inhibited and self-consciously ‘studied’ in their manners, but Chris Cooper just seems natural.

Robert De Niro as Arthur Lustig. Sure, he’s barely on screen and when he is, the script, and as such, his words, leave a lot to be desired. Still, De Niro evokes the scariest psycho villain to ever grace the screen since his turn in the Cape Fear remake. (This remake is a solid one too)

1991 was the year of Nick Nolte between “Cape Fear” and “Prince of Tides” - Great performances

Subplots (That Don’t)

• Finn is a Talented Artiste

  He’s not. The red thread of the film is how talented and GOOD his art is. No, it’s not. The art doesn’t justify the accolades nor substantiate why without the money, it would have been cruel not to share it with the world. It’s the ultimate privilege that this guy is empowered to create more of it. And that after not doing art for 8 or so years, he can churn out giant canvases to fill an entire art gallery when he’s summoned to do so.

  

• Finn Ditches a Pivotal Party Because Estella Triggers Him Yet Again

  Toxic relationships are taken to a whole new level here. The lack of restraint in Finn going all sigma on Estella, asserting his dominance, and recklessly tossing his pheromones at her at a hoity-toity who’s who of the NYC art world soiree was plain stupid. Sure, he was mad because Estella chose that day to tell him that she was engaged to be married to Hank Azaria, and he loves her, and she loves no one but herself, but still.

  

  After Finn runs out of the party, rudely pushing people out of his way, and crapping all over his career by exiting said party, he proceeds to run in the rain to the restaurant where Estella is having a nice, quiet dinner with her fiance and another couple. Sopping wet from the rain, he pulls her up from the table to Azaria’s weak protests, as if entranced, and starts to dance with her. Then they leave the restaurant, their exit reminiscent of one of the final images from The Graduate when Hoffman and Bancroft’s daughter in the film, played by Katherine Ross run out of the chapel, hand in hand like two flew from the cuckoo’s nest.

  

  Yipee! We’ve put the bourgeoisie on blast!

Let’s Discuss

• Things that work: Estella’s/Gwyneth’s Aesthetics - She’s gushingly gorgeous in every scene period. She fits the ‘90s waif look to a tee. Gwyneth epitomized the cool “it” girl and as such, making her the focal point visually was a good call. Personality, be damned.

  

  

• What’s your take on this film? Did you like it when you saw it?

• In the 90s, were you “President of the Winona Ryder fan club” or “Team Gwyneth”? Has it changed?

• Do you remember the Matt Damon-Winona Ryder and Ben Affleck-Gwyneth Paltrow coupling? Best friends dating best friends…

• Which film remakes have been exceptional in your opinion?

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On Topic Of:

Anne Bancroft Sequitur: Full of 60s Simon & Garfunkel goodness and “Mrs. Robinson”

Here's to you, "Mrs. Robinson"

Constant Craving(s) & Remakes: A humorous take on the new Wonka

Review/Rant: Wonka