Modern `Expectations' Anything But Great
Weak performances mar reworking of Dickens classic

c2000 San Francisco Chronicle

GREAT EXPECTATIONS: Drama. Starring Ethan Hawke, Gwyneth Paltrow,
Anne Bancroft and Robert De Niro. Directed by Alfonso Cuaron. (R.
111 minutes. At Bay Area theaters.)


Setting a classic in a different location and time is hardly a
new idea. Done well -- as it was in the 1996 ``Romeo & Juliet''
and in ``Clueless,'' a witty adaptation of ``Emma'' -- it may
even inspire people to read the original.

Unfortunately, ``Great Expectations'' is liable to have the
opposite effect. From watching this meandering, stilted movie,
anyone unfamiliar with Charles Dickens' novel would be not only
disinclined to pick it up but also clueless as to why it's
considered great.

The action has been moved from 19th century England to present-
day Florida and New York. But the contemporary setting often is
at odds with what remains a very Victorian plot. Although most
of the names have been changed (to protect the innocent
characters?), the bones of the story are right out of Dickens.

MANHATTAN ART SCENE
Finn (Ethan Hawke), a poor orphan working on a fishing boat on
the Gulf Coast, has his expectations raised when an unknown
benefactor pays for him to go to New York and be an artist. He
is quickly discovered by the Manhattan art world and gets to go
to trendy parties where art mavens drool over him.

But he is haunted by a childhood love, Estella (Gwyneth
Paltrow), and by the words of her dotty aunt, Miss Dinsmoor
(Anne Bancroft), who warned him that ``the girl will only hurt
you terribly, but you'll still pursue her.'' Estella turns up
in New York wearing great designer clothes, which she removes
at will -- ostensibly so Finn can paint her but really to tease
him.

Mexican director Alfonso Cuaron, who was hailed for his first
American film, ``A Little Princess,'' can't get the feel of
haute New York. The gaiety and bitchiness seem forced. (Julian
Schnabel, who has firsthand knowledge of this world, captured
it a lot better in ``Basquiat.'')

Cuaron relies on cliche shots of New York in the rain. And he
uses far too many close-ups. The ones of Bancroft, with her
painted-on wrinkles, become almost painful to watch.

BANCROFT OVER THE TOP
Bancroft's performance is so over the top it's amusing. She
dances around a decaying Florida mansion as if she's on
something. At least she seems alive, which is more than can be
said of the rest of the cast.

Paltrow slinks through her role like a sullen runway model.
Hawke is marginally OK in the early scenes, when Finn is
portrayed as an innocent. But he lacks the charisma to make
the character believable as a hot young painter. Robert De
Niro appears briefly as a menacing thug, a part he could play
in his sleep, which is what he seems to do in this movie.

In fairness, ``Great Expectations'' seems to have had serious
budget restrictions. That's the only explanation for the scene
where Finn and Estella walk through Central Park on a beautiful
day and have the place all to themselves.

HEARING, NOT SEEING, THE ACTION
It would also explain the heavy use of voice-over. Instead of
seeing the action, we hear about it from Finn (which is made
that much more annoying by Hawke's reedy voice). It's like a
book on tape. Finn describes going to Paris, but all that is
shown is his walking barefoot on a beach. Couldn't they even
afford a shot of the Seine?

These cut corners might not be so noticeable if the movie were
more involving. It's hard to care about Finn or his
expectations. Instead of being great, they seem pretty mundane.