Director: Mike Newell
Cast: Ralph Fiennes, Helena Bonham Carter, Jeremy Irvine, Sally Hawkins
Running time: 128 minutes
Certificate: 12A
Synopsis: When poor boy Pip – raised by his sister and her husband – grows up, a secret benefactor gives him the opportunity to become a gentleman in London and to finally become worthy of his childhood love…
The biggest challenge of adapting Charles Dickens’ ‘Great Expectations’ lies in compressing several years worth of stories and characters’ lives into just two hours of film. Director Newell does attempt something interesting, bringing a stylistic darkness to his adaptation that’s very reminiscent of his HARRY POTTER days. The tone is set immediately, and from the outset the film promises to be a very rare experience. But it’s not enough – whilst Newell makes every effort to create an epic once-in-a-lifetime film, he is unfortunately nowhere close to succeeding.
Firstly, the film is poorly paced, and many scenes feel dragged out whilst others are rushed and sloppily thrown in. This is where GREAT EXPECTATIONS disappoints the most – the painful love between Pip and Estella isn’t given a fair chance to develop properly, and there’s too little opportunity to feel empathy for any of the characters, and no insight to help understand the relationships between them. Also, the length of the story and years that past is lost in the editing, and there is never a sense of real development. Instead, it feels like random people spending a few days between London and rural England. It’s a huge shame because there are plenty of intense relationships from the novel to depict – everything from obscure father figures, to reluctant love interests, sworn enemies and dysfunctional aunts. But Newell runs out of time, and instead of focusing on one or two relationship he neglects them all.
Adding to the… erm, great expectations of the film is its cast. Holliday Granger, Jeremy Irvine and Sally Hawkins seem promising additions, but there are only a few actors that stand out. First is Ralph Fiennes, playing the mad Magwitch. His performance stays true to the novel and proves thoroughly gripping. Helena Bonham Carter is also notable, playing the most famous spinster of all time, Miss Havisham. Her take on the bitter woman is calmer, and more stripped down than expected but still marvelously compelling and amusing, and along with Fiennes’ performance, is one of the few impressive things about GREAT EXPECTATIONS.
Jeremy Irvine is unfortunately miscast as lead character Pip, and fails to convince he is suited for hard labour as a blacksmith’s apprentice, let alone convey the emotions of unrequited love. He is also lacking any form of on-screen chemistry with Holliday Grainger as Estelle.
Overall, GREAT EXPECTATIONS lacks a rawness and has no essence of tragedy. It’s a film worth seeing, but not a film worthy of a re-watch. Audiences may be expecting something grand, but it’s lacking the novel’s soul and ends up as little more than a melodramatic soap opera. Despite the fact the last adaptation of ‘Great Expectations’ (disregarding the modern version with Ethan Hawke) was in 1946, Newell’s version feels like just like another take instead of a great one.
GREAT EXPECTATIONS premieres on the 30th of November in the UK and is awaiting a US release.
