Great Expectations (1998)
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The story
Ten-year-old orphan Finn Bell is overpowered by an escaped convict while playing on a beach on the Gulf Coast. After the convict is recaptured, Finn's life takes a turn when he begins visiting the mansion of Nora Dinsmoor, a wealthy recluse. There, he meets her niece, Estella, and develops into a talented painter while visiting her every Saturday. Years later, Finn's career as an artist takes him to New York City, where he reunites with Estella. However, the complexities of their relationship and the truth behind his past begin to surface as he navigs the consequences of his choices and the mysterious influence of his childhood encounter.
Full plot (contains spoilers)
After a childhood encounter with a convict named Arthur Lustig, Finn becomes a painter and falls in love with the wealthy Estella. In New York, he discovers Estella was using him to make her fiancé jealous. Following a confrontation with her aunt, Finn learns from a dying Lustig that the convict was his secret benefactor. After a period of success in Paris, Finn returns to Florida, where he eventually reconciles with a now-divorced Estella.
- First release year
- 1998
- Runtime (minutes)
- 111
- Production countries
- United States
- Original languages
- English; French
- Directors
- Alfonso Cuarón
- Writers
- Mitch Glazer · screenplay
- Cast and characters
- Ethan Hawke · Finn; Gwyneth Paltrow · Estella; Hank Azaria; Chris Cooper; Anne Bancroft; Robert De Niro
- Genres
- romantic drama
- Themes
- class; identity
- Tone and mood
- hyperstylized
- Premise and plot tags
- adaptation; romance
- Source material / true-story basis
- Great Expectations by Charles Dickens
- Reception
- The film received mixed reviews from critics but was commercially successful, earning over double its production budget at the box office.
- Reported review scores
- Rotten Tomatoes · score: 41% · review count: 37; Metacritic · score: 55 · scale: 100 · review count: 24
- Production trivia
- The production used a historic residence in Florida for the mansion.; All of Finn's artwork was created by Italian painter Francesco Clemente.
Film metadata comes from the open sources listed in Credits & Contact. Catalogue details may be incomplete.
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