The Battalion
Wednesday • February
real Expectations
Starring Ethan Hawke and Gwyneth Pal
Directed by Alfonso Cuardn
Playing at Hollywood 16
Rated R
Critique: C-
■I
Aaron
Meier
staff writer
T he trailers
make it look
like a sensual
love affair between
two sexy stars.
The reputation of
the classic Dickens’
novel, on which the
movie is based, is a
tale of class struggle
and acceptance into
high society.
In the end, how
ever, Great Expecta
tions does a lukewarm job of trying to
achieve both.
Following in the footsteps of William
Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet, Great Expec
tations tries to put an MTV-generation twist
on a classic love story. The problem with this
update is the twists also occur with some oc
casionally nauseating camera movements
that invoke unfriendly reminders of lunch.
On paper the update sounds interesting.
Ethan Hawke plays Finn Bell, a child of the
poor fishing towns along the Gulf Coast and
an aspiring artist. He is employed by the
3 town’s resident nut case — excuse me, ec
centric socialite — Ms. Dinsmoor, played
with unabandoned relish by Anne Bancroft.
Young Finn’s job is to be a dancing
partner for Dinsmoor’s niece, Estella
(Gwyneth Paltrow). Even at age 11, Estella
is an ice queen who would make Nancy
Kerrigan proud. Over their years of danc
ing, Finn falls in love with Estella, even
though their social worlds are millions of
dollars apart.
Some years after Estella has moved from
the sultry society of Florida to the suave jet
setters of New York, Finn receives a chance
from a mysterious benefactor to display his
artwork. This opportunity offers him a
chance to escape the marshes of the Gulf
Coast and possibly reunite with Estella.
For those people lucky enough to have
avoided the book in high school, the fun
of the movie comes in Dickens’ plot cou
pled with the beauty of Paltrow and
Hawke trying to be at their sensual best.
For those of us who were not smart
enough to dodge Dickens, the plot’s sur
prises are ruined and the modern update
does not do much for the original, other
than making its warbling prose bearable.
The acting in the film is best served in
the silent moments oi Great Expectations.
Watching the two lovers dance or observ
ing Hawke’s passionate drawings in si
lence show the sensual charisma of the
stars. It is disturbing when the words of a
movie get in the way of making it good.
Bancroft’s portrayal of Dinsmoor is the
film’s only improvement on the novel. Al
though the book has the character con
stantly dressed in a tattered wedding
dress, director Alfonso Caurdn’s has
Dinsmoor in heaVy makeup accenting
every wrinkle of Bancroft’s face. The dor
mant insanity of Dinsmoor still shines
through, making her the memorable char
acter of Great Expectations.
While the movie is relatively Paltrow-
light, she illuminates the screen as well as
brings a chill into the theater whenever
Estella lets a pointed barb fly at Hawke’s
Finn. Paltrow has definitely come out of
her post-Brad Pitt era as a star in her own
right and her prominence in the movie’s
trailers proves this fact. Now, if Paltrow
can stop sporting the “anorexic waif”
look, maybe her nude scenes would not
be so disturbing.
Caurdn’s direction is both innovative
and childish. He clearly is fond of an active
camera, but sometimes the camera work
distracts from the actors’ performances. He
does deserve praise for trying to make the
camera work in the film. Perhaps in future
projects, Caurdn will learn to temper ener
gy with the serenity of a quiet moment.
The whole product of Great Expecta
tions does not equal the sum of its parts.
It just goes to prove that sexy stars, a clas
sic script and a young innovative director
does not a good movie make.
Mf you look at the|
statistics, sleep
disorders are one
of the leading
causes of institu- | 4
tionalization in
the United States.”!
Dr. David Earnest
associate professor.
College of Medicine
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