GREAT EXPECTATIONS (31)

Directed by: Alfonso Cuaron

Starring: Ethan Hawke, Gwyneth Paltrow, Anne Bancroft, Robert de Niro

The Pitch: A young boy helps a fugitive and falls in love with the ward of a dotty old lady ; years later, a mysterious benefactor allows him to become a famous artist in the big city.

Theo Sez: What on earth's the point of a film like this? Even with all the energy Baz Luhrmann brought it, ROMEO + JULIET was just barely justifiable - and then only because the play's ossified a little in recent times, overshadowed by its balcony-scene clichés in the popular imagination. Dickens, however, hasn't been reduced in any such way - he's a still-vital writer who'll either be a revered master or just a name to the film's audience, but surely can't be anything in between (it's a question of, well, expectations) : what on earth's the point of chopping up a perfectly good novel, beyond offending its fans and leaving those who've never read it none the wiser? Viewers familiar with the original (or David Lean's film version) will probably find the emotions much diluted in this indifferent condensation - the low-comedy Miss Havisham, undercutting her dialogue with campy asides ("Ain't love grand?"), a much less potent figure, Joe's visit to the big city less human and complex (Pip - or whatever he's called here - merely embarrassed instead of trying to conceal his embarrassment), the boy's kindness much less touching (partly because his home life is less oppressive) ; while those coming to it cold will see only an unremarkable love story, prettily decked out in pastel greens and yellows, and may well wonder what all the fuss is about. Indeed, the only receptive audience I can think of are those who've read the book, hated it, and are dying to see it "re-imagined" - a pretty specialised group, really. Nice bit of Pulp on the soundtrack, though.