Review of Great Expectations (1998) by Robert F — 09 Apr 2008

This film was almost terrible. I have never read the classic novel, but after seeing this I couldn't be more interested in reading the source material, if not just to see how hard they worked to destroy any inkling of significance to this famous story.

The only reason I award it 2 stars is because it starts off with a bang. The characters are interesting and dramatically appropriate for their literary backdrop, but it should also be mentioned that the first thing you hear is Ethan Hawke's narration.

I'm certain that narration is almost always a kiss of death for a movie, with some exceptions like Wes Anderson's 'The Royal Tenenbaums.' This film functions as a shameless case in point to this claim.

I really liked the magical, mythical proportions to the cinematography and first rise in the story arc, but once the film approaches the halfway mark, it completely unravels, drifting into nonsensical (and boring) territory.

There's innane dialog, almost pornographic erotica, and, yeah. You get the picture. Skip this one.