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Great Expectations (12A)

Great Expectations (12A)

Drama

A humble orphan suddenly becomes a gentleman with the help of an unknown benefactor.


The critical consensus

Its glossy looks, first-rate playing and famous pedigree will be cat-nip to book-groupies. But can this dutiful adaptation set the box office burning like Miss Havisham’s skirts?

***(*)(*)Kate Stables, Total Film, 21/10/2012

It’s reasonable as undemanding Sunday afternoon telly, but as a movie event you’d better lower your expectations.

***(*)(*)Siobhan Synnot, The Scotsman, 25/11/2012

Even with lowered expectations it’s far from great. What a shame.

**(*)(*)(*)Alistair Harkness, The Scotsman, 29/11/2012

A watchable adaptation by David Nicholls, but doesn't match the story's passionate fear and rapture.

***(*)(*)Peter Bradshaw, The Guardian, 29/11/2012

Great Expectations is about as comfortable as a very fat man sitting in a very small aircraft seat.

**(*)(*)(*)Robbie Collin, The Telegraph, 29/11/2012

Nicholls, it must be said, has done a passionately sincere and skilful job, and if it was all as good as the first 40 minutes – the story of a strange disrupted childhood – it would deserve to rank as one of the great adaptations.

****(*)Anthony Quinn, The Independent, 29/11/2012

It may lack surprise and freshness but with so much talent involved you certainly won¹t be bored.

***(*)(*)Henry Fitzherbert, Daily Express, 30/11/2012

Handsome but uninspired.

**(*)(*)(*)Chris Tookey, Daily Mail, 30/11/2012

It’s handsome, involving and stars the cream of British acting talent — but so did Lean’s unbeatable version, and Newell and Nicholls’ safe, schoolteacher-friendly interpretation makes no real case for going down this much-travelled road once more.

***(*)(*)Guy Lodge, Empire Online, 30/11/2012

Film adaptations of Great Expectations have often lived in the shadow of David Lean’s 1946 version, still considered to be the best to date, and Newell is miles from iterating anything as bracing about Dickensian commentary.

**(*)(*)(*)Andrew Latimer, TVBomb, 30/11/2012

A literal, scene-by-scene translation of the book, with very little of the streamlining undertaken by David Lean for the classic 1946 version. It's a tactic that pays dividends for a while, in that it's a pleasure to see so many of Dickens's characters brought to richly coloured life. But, towards the end, you might as well be reading a synopsis.

Nicholas Barber, The Independent on Sunday, 02/12/2012

Above all, this handsomely designed, unobtrusively edited and thoughtfully acted film moves at quite a clip, reminding us what a fantastic, morally complex, eternally relevant story the book tells us of good and evil, decency and generosity, snobbery and love, of dealing with forces beyond our control, of accepting life and understanding the world.

Philip French, The Observer, 02/12/2012

No mustiness in this quirky, dark revamp, which rips along at a pace while exuberantly embracing Gothic dramatics.

Carmen Gray, Little White Lies, 29/11/2012


Features about Great Expectations (12A)

Adapting Great Expectations for the screen

David Nicholls, The Guardian, 16/11/2012

Adapting Charles Dickens for a new audience

Henry Fitzherbert, Daily Express, 25/11/2012

Where and when?

General release. Check local listings for show times.

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