I've recently challenged myself to watch EVERY version of Great Expectations available on film. There are many. Dozens. It seems that someone is making a version almost every year. And after watching several, with several more to go, I have to say this one is the most disappointing. The dialogue is both dry and overwritten. Florid and yet dull! No small feat.
The performances lack credible emotion but are also overly dramatic. I blame the director because the performances are uniformly...bad.
The best versions of Great Expectations marry drama with wit (2011). Some are dark. This version is dark and humorless, but somehow lacking in drama! Yeesh. EVERY single character is either boring and flat or completely loathsome. Even Pip is unlikable!! HOW have they managed to ruin Pip??
Skip this one. The 1946 movie and the 2011 and 2023 miniseries are much better. Even the 1998 Ethan Hawke/Gwyneth Paltrow remake is better, if only for the stellar Anne Bancroft performance. For fun, you might want to watch the 1946 movie and 1989 miniseries back to back. In 1946, Jean Simmons plays heartbreaker Estella. In the 1989, she plays the tragically unhinged Miss Havisham.
This has been a wild ride, watching all of these adaptations. I recommend it, but again, skip this one. It's a bore. Even Charlotte Rampling can't save it.
The performances lack credible emotion but are also overly dramatic. I blame the director because the performances are uniformly...bad.
The best versions of Great Expectations marry drama with wit (2011). Some are dark. This version is dark and humorless, but somehow lacking in drama! Yeesh. EVERY single character is either boring and flat or completely loathsome. Even Pip is unlikable!! HOW have they managed to ruin Pip??
Skip this one. The 1946 movie and the 2011 and 2023 miniseries are much better. Even the 1998 Ethan Hawke/Gwyneth Paltrow remake is better, if only for the stellar Anne Bancroft performance. For fun, you might want to watch the 1946 movie and 1989 miniseries back to back. In 1946, Jean Simmons plays heartbreaker Estella. In the 1989, she plays the tragically unhinged Miss Havisham.
This has been a wild ride, watching all of these adaptations. I recommend it, but again, skip this one. It's a bore. Even Charlotte Rampling can't save it.