Great Expectations (2011)

Pip (Douglas Booth) is a rather ordinary little boy. He lives with his sister and her husband, a blacksmith, and wants nothing more than to follow his brother-in-law into the trade. Then his entire life changes. First he encounters an escaped, chained convict named Magwitch (Ray Winstone), who makes Pip steal a file from the forge. He obliges out of fear, but he also brings along a piece of pie. Then Miss Havisham (Gillian Anderson), a great lady, asks him to her house to play with her adopted daughter Estella (Vanessa Kirby). Though his life may have been unexciting before, young Pip now has great expectations for the future.

This movie is very, very well done. Though a little dark and weird in the first hour (my sister says that grown Pip looks like a vampire in that part; I don't disagree), it brightens up with Pip's expectations. The acting, writing, and directing are all par with most British mini-series. In other words, they're fantastic. But even more than the production value, the filmmakers' decision to make it into a character study of nearly all the characters in the film makes it a worthwhile movie.

The entire focus of this version of Great Expectations is on the characters. It doesn't wallow in Pip's bad circumstances, and neither does it depict the story as a slow, painful descent into deeper and darker places. (In other words, it's nothing like the 1999 version with Ioan Gruffudd.) Instead, the filmmakers, sometimes lovingly and sometimes callously, push aside the well-known story in favor of the well-known but often neglected characters.

"Neglected" is not a word generally used to describe the character of Miss Havisham - even those who have not read the book know who she is. But any real complexity in her character seems to be overlooked in favor of the basic idea of her: She's a cold woman out for revenge on men. In contrast, this version of the film embodies her in an entirely different way. In this version, she is a woman whose anger never really allowed her to grow up. Her high-pitched voice, curled hair, thin body, and nervous habits together help to create the impression that she is a child possessed by childish rage. For another example, the sneaking, evil Orlick (Jack Roth) is small, thin, and looks almost like a wild animal - a wild animal tired of being chained and mocked. Pip looks the very picture of innocent youth. The list could go on, I believe, until every character in the movie has been listed.

The material point, to put it in the immortal words of I-don't-remember-which-BBC-movie-character, is that Great Expectations is about its people. There's certainly a story (complete with the requisite Dickens twists), but the story is dependent on the characters' choices and interactions, not the other way around. Ultimately, the point of Great Expectations is to show which people are, at heart, good and which are bad. Who can receive redemption, and whose heart is simply too black to even want it? Who is willing to change to receive it? You'll have to watch the movie to find out.

Note: Since I haven't read the book in years, I can't comment on how faithful this movie is. I've heard that it's not particularly close to Dickens' original - so purists beware!

My Rating: T (mild sexual content, sexual references, spooky images)

Concerning Dombey & Son

Paul Dombey (Julian Glover) dotes on his son. The third in a line of successful businessmen, Mr. Dombey wants his son to take his place in the firm someday and expand the family fortune. Unfortunately, his obsession with his son and his business are to the exclusion of everything else - including his sweet, patient daughter Florence (Lysette Anthony). As time goes on, Mr. Dombey's neglect of Florence turns into a deeply ingrained dislike. But when tragedy strikes again and again, will Mr. Dombey be able to turn to her for help or will his pride or her wounded heart keep them apart?

Pros: The story kept me interested, although it could wander a little bit sometimes. Florence is a very Dickens-y heroine - very sweet and kind, but with a heavy burden to carry. The side characters can be funny, especially Captain Cuttle (Emrys James). It would really be a great re-make (so long as they handled a couple of parts in the story with grace and dignity - something I highly doubt).

Cons: This is so a 1980s BBC movie. The costumes and makeup are so-so, but the lighting and the sets and some of the props are not very good. Neither is the sound; some characters speak a lot louder than others. Oh, and Mr. Dombey's son is not a very good actor. During a lot of the early scenes I caught myself wondering "And what's the point of this scene?" I think almost every scene becomes important to the story at some point in the movie, but some of them seem pretty pointless at the time. Finally, viewers don't get emotionally involved, which is a must for any movie. (Yes, it is; who doesn't want to feel excited during an action/adventure movie, or creepy-crawly during a spooky movie?) Finally, the climax scene (at least, I suppose it was the climax scene) was really odd. A friend and I each interpreted it a different way. *Spoiler Warning* Did the bad guy commit suicide or was it an accident? I think it was an accident; my friend thought it was suicide. Either way, it was a pretty lame and confusing part.

Note: Based on the book by Charles Dickens.

My Rating: T (thematic elements)

Concerning Bleak House

Jarndyce and Jarndyce has been going on for years. This case, involving several contradicting wills left by a very rich old man, has been in court for decades, and it never seems to near its end. Then two wards of the court, Ada Clare (Carey Mulligan) and Richard Carstone (Patrick Kennedy), together with their orphaned companion, Esther Summerson (Anna Maxwell Martin), are placed under the guardianship of a rival in the Jarndyce case - a Mr. John Jarndyce (Denis Lawson) of Bleak House. Another rival in the Jarndyce case is Lady Dedlock (Gillian Anderson), who is married to old Sir Leicester Dedlock (Timothy West). She is every inch a lady, but she is bored. When her husband's lawyer brings a legal document to show to Sir Leicester, Lady Dedlock recognizes the handwriting - and she faints from shock.

Pros: Gillian Anderson is awesome! Especially considering she is an American playing a British role. I love Ada and Esther. This movie is very funny, very engrossing, and very... long. Over seven and a half hours!

Cons: I can't think of a single thing I don't like about this movie.

My Rating: T (thematic elements)

Picture from coverbrowser.com

In Relation To Little Dorrit

Based on Charles Dickens' book of the same name, Little Dorrit is about young woman named Amy Dorrit (Claire Foy). The first child ever to be born in the Marshalsea, a London debtors prison, Amy has grown into a young woman who has never known any other home. She spends her time caring for her father (Tom Courtenay) and secretly earning money as a needleworker- until Arthur Clennam (Matthew Macfadyen) returns from China. Convinced his family is responsible for her father's debts, Arthur sets out to help the Dorrit family and changes their lives forever.

Pros: I can definitely see the mark of Charles Dickens on this adaptation of his book. There are so many outrageous characters that are hilarious. I love Arthur Clennam! He's clueless (as most men in old books are), but he's very sweet and honorable. I just about puzzled my brains out trying to decipher the ending the first time I watched this movie. Another pro (in my book) is the length. It's upwards of seven hours!

Cons: The bad guy (played wonderfully by Andy Serkis) gets a bit much sometimes. There's an uncomfortable couple of scenes involving him and a woman at an inn near the beginning of the movie. I still haven't quite reconciled the entire plot, either.

My Rating: T (thematic elements, obscene hand gesture, moderate sexual content involving bad guy)