Great Expectations
Columbia TriStar Egmont Film Distributors | Release Date: January 30, 1998 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
55
METASCORE
Mixed or average reviews based on 24 Critic Reviews
Positive:
10
Mixed:
11
Negative:
3
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
60
The New York TimesJanet Maslin
Largely because Mr. Cuaron is such a voluptuous visual stylist, this Great Expectations is capable of wonder even when its wilder ideas misfire. Read full review
60
The New YorkerDaphne Merkin
This update has to be one of the most ludicrously dumbed-down versions of a classic to date. But it does have a hip, hybrid soundtrack, and, as directed by Alfonso Cuarón ("A Little Princess"), it's so visually stunning that it's almost gripping in its incoherence. Read full review
50
Washington PostDesson Thomson
There's nothing wrong, nor particularly right about the experience. It just sits there, like a Nike ad. Read full review
50
Christian Science MonitorDavid Sterritt
The stars are appealing and the filmmaking is imaginative at times, but the picture never builds much dramatic momentum.
50
Dallas ObserverPeter Rainer
Cuaron is a special talent, and, as botched as Great Expectations often is, it's the kind of failure that deserves an audience--if only to experience Cuaron's way of seeing, which is at its best in the early parts of this film. Read full review
50
VarietyTodd McCarthy
Beautifully made production lacks the emotional depth and dramatic tension needed to command audience attention beyond the level of a talented curiosity. Read full review
50
New York Daily NewsJami Bernard
Lean's wonderful 1946 movie are taken down a peg with a tawdry update of Great Expectations set in modern-day Florida and New York. [30 January 1998, p. 44]
50
USA TodayMike Clark
Transforms Charles Dickens into a Chuck. Ground Chuck, unfortunately. [30 January 1998, p. 7D]
40
Washington PostRita Kempley
Hardly a real pip (indeed, it has been rendered Pip-less), but then this loosey-goosey adaptation isn't aimed at those of us with library cards. Read full review
40
EmpireAngie Errigo
This plays like a collection of translated, stylised scenes rather than a seamless narrative that arouses one's sympathy with Finn or forbearance for Estella. File under well-meaning failures. Read full review
40
Los Angeles TimesKenneth Turan
Suffers from being neither here nor there. In its rush to modernize its story and attract a young audience with stars like Ethan Hawke and Gwyneth Paltrow, the film ends up problematic both in relation to the original and on its own terms. Read full review
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