Well, I had some not-so-great expectations for this modernized adaptation of the Dickens' classic, and I basically got what I expected.  Starring Ethan Hawke (as Finn, a poor artist) and the beautiful Gwyneth Paltrow, as Estella, the cold rich bitch, who teases and then repeatedly rejects Finn, this movie changes Dickens' story and in doing so, the meaning of the novel is lost.

    Great Expectations is a story that did not survive its updated locale, the Gulf coast of Florida.  Finn (Pip in the Dickens' novel) is a young boy who likes to draw.  Dirt poor, he lives with his sister (who later abandons him) and her boyfriend, a commercial fisherman (Uncle Joe) who winds up raising him after his sister takes off.  One day Finn encounters an escaped convict (Robert DeNiro) who he helps elude capture, first, out of fear, then, for a purer motive.  DeNiro is recaptured and the boy resumes his life.  Finn later meets a rich Floridian woman (Anne Bancroft), who is crazy as a loon and her beautiful young niece, Estella. Finn serves as her childhood companion and dance partner.  They meet up again in New York after a mysterious benefactor gives Finn the opportunity to show his artwork at a gallery.

    Great Expectations doesn't do alot:  we are never given any real reason for Estella's coldness nor Finn's unwavering obsession with her (other than the obvious!).  Robert DeNiro and Anne Bancroft give bland, almost not worth mentioning performances - though Bancroft's make-up job is the scariest thing I've seen on screen in awhile!  Both characters seem like afterthoughts in this movie though they were more fully developed in the novel.

    The big talk about Great Expectations was the supposedly "all nude" sketching scene with Gwyneth Paltrow.  The hype was a little bit more than what was delivered by the film makers.  But, if  you're going to see Great Expectations to see Paltrow she does look good and the chemistry between her and Hawke is there.  However, I don't think it's worth a trip to the cinema.  My advice: wait for the video.