Count me among those who are not fans of Charles Dickens.  Like other high schoolers, I was forced to read A Tale of Two Cities (1859).  I fancied myself a reader, but I could not find a way to enjoy the tale.  I have tried other works of his, but could not get past the first dozen or so pages.  I will admit to getting sentimental for A Christmas Carol (1843), but that was written as a play.  I have enjoyed the few cinematic version I have reviewed for The Legionnaire, though I credit to the play being conceived of as a performance piece.  The irony of my lack of enthusiasm for his scribblings is not lost on me since normally his pieces had a moralizing agenda, a mission I share in part with this blog.  Still, while I hope this same does not apply to my syntax, such a goal can make for some dull prose.  Perhaps this explains why my favorite of Dickens’ novels is The Pickwick Papers (1837), his first.  This is all to contextualize why I had never read Great Expectations (1861).  However, having said all this, I did enjoy the 1998 movie version, even if it did test my Catholic fortitude at times.

Actually, talking about “times” could be a reference to A Tale of Two Cities’ opening line, but I am here to review Great Expectations (1998).  The beginning is narrated by a grown-up Finnegan “Finn” Bell (Ethan Hawke), and the rest is a memoir of his life.  As a child (Jeremy James Kissner), Finn is left to his own devices.  His parents had passed away, and he is raised by his older sister, Maggie (Kim Dickens, no joke), and Joe Coleman (Chris Cooper), a local commercial fisherman.  They live on the Gulf of Mexico coast of Florida, and while the adults ply their trades, Finn roams the area’s tidal inlets sketching till his heart’s content.  On one of these excursions, he happens upon Arthur Lustig (Robert De Niro).  Arthur is hiding in the water, having escaped imprisonment for being a convicted murderer.  Finn does not know the extent of Arthur’s crime at the moment, only that the man has threatened to kill the boy and his family if the young artist does not return with a bolt cutter and food without alerting the police.  Finn does as asked and is about to be made to help Arthur further his flight until Finn is stopped by a police vessel.  Arthur is able to conceal himself behind a buoy, but the authorities tow Finn’s dinghy back to port.  Still, Finn leaves a life jacket for Arthur as they depart.  Upon getting home, there is a story on the evening news about how Arthur had been recaptured, while also listing his heinous acts.  Regardless, Finn puts Arthur out of his mind, which proves easy to do since the next day he and Joe are summoned to “Paradiso Perduto,” “Paradise Lost” in Italian, the vast estate of wealthy ex-fiancée Ms. Nora Dinsmoor (Anne Bancroft).  Joe is supposedly there to fill a handyman position, but it is Finn who has the life-changing experience.  As Finn awaits Joe’s return, he meets Estella (Raquel Beaudene).  She is Ms. Dinsmoor’s niece and the same age as Finn.  Upon getting home, Maggie informs Finn and Joe that Ms. Dinsmoor wants Finn to return the next day in order to play with her niece, and that the boy will be compensated for his time.  Finn agrees, though it brings him face-to-face with the eccentric Ms. Dinsmoor, who is still heartbroken by being jilted at the altar.  Estella is a little quirky, too, but in the haughty way of a person born to privilege.  Regardless, Finn is in love with Estella from the moment of their first meeting.  As time goes on, Finn continues to go to Paradiso Perduto every Saturday to entertain Ms. Dinsmoor and spend any moment he can with Estella.  Once they have come of age, Estella (Gwyneth Paltrow) is in need of an escort to a nearby party.  Finn volunteers, and she assents with a roll of the eyes.  Nevertheless, when he is able to get through the front gate, she appears and they return to his less than modest house.  There, she sees how much of his art is inspired by her.  They share an adult moment, which only increases the love he has for her.  Yet, when he visits Ms. Dinsmoor the next day, he is saddened to learn that she had left to go to school outside the country.  Finn spends the next few years trying to forget about his muse until one day he is randomly approached by Jerry Ragno (Josh Mostel), a lawyer empowered to set Finn up in New York as an artist.  With Ms. Dinsmoor’s reminder that this is where Estella currently resides, he accepts the offer.  Within a few days, he has a chance encounter with Estella at a water fountain in Central Park.  He can hardly believe his luck, but much of it is dashed when he is invited to meet her at an upscale club, only to learn that she is all but engaged to the rich Walter Plane (Hank Azaria).  It gets worse when she accepts Walter’s proposal despite reconnecting with Finn, not to mention posing nude for his art.  At first, Finn does not know how to handle this development, but a week before his opening he takes her from dinner with Walter and they sleep with each other.  Though she promises to come to his big day, he is once more disappointed by her not attending.  Later that night, he goes to her New York residence to confront her, only to find Ms. Dinsmoor, who informs him that Estella has gone to wed Walter.  Dejected, he returns to his studio and is met by Arthur in the stairwell.  Finn does not recognize the man, but the people looking for him downstairs are concerning.  Upon letting Arthur use his phone, Arthur finally realizes the stranger’s identity.  Further, it becomes clear that it had been Arthur all along who had been the artist’s benefactor, it being a way to say thank you for the boy’s assistance.  Finn tries to return the favor by helping Arthur evade the people looking for him, but one catches them on the subway and fatally stabs Arthur.  With that, Finn tells of taking Arthur’s invitation to travel to Paris before returning to Florida.  Of course, he cannot resist one last visit to Paradiso Perduto.  Ms. Dunsmoor has passed away, but he finds the now divorced Estella.  She asks for forgiveness and we conclude with them holding hands.

The concluding shot of Great Expectations was filmed at the Ca’ d’Zan, the Sarasota, Florida, mansion that was built by circus magnate John Ringling for his wife, Mable Ringling.  You can still visit it today, and I assure you that it does not look rundown as it does in the film.  Still, these are surface assessments for a movie that deals with some pretty weighty issues to this Catholic reviewer.  Perhaps the biggest assertion in the film is when Ms. Dinsmoor states that people do not change.  She recognizes early the feelings that Finn has for Estella, and warns the young man that it will only lead to heart ache.  The film’s outcome, and Faith, say otherwise.  Nevertheless, the problem with Ms. Dinsmoor’s declaration is that there is nothing promised.  In other words, nothing stays the same.  Unfortunately, we live in a broken world, with broken people hurting other broken people.  We tend to act contrary to how God created us, that being made to be in relation with Him.  If we follow him earnestly with our whole heart, then the one thing that is promised to us, that being eternity in Heaven, will eventually be ours.  That is the greatest thing anyone could accomplish, but it seems too esoteric for most people to do.  Finn is a good example of how the majority of people behave.  He believes that if he can make his own success, albeit with a little help that he also feels is owed to him, he can make Estella love him.    In the calculus of secular society, it is not a bad plan.  However, nothing is accomplished without God.  Sadly, what attracts people is material in nature.  What is also interesting about Estella is that she admits to having fear.  She evidently loves Finn, but she stays with the safe choice in Walter.  It takes both our lead characters realizing their mistakes for them to ultimately find each other.  Indeed, I would be so bold as to say that this is what God had planned for them all along.  Yes, God gives us free will, and acting against it does not always have such life altering consequences.  Alternatively, relinquishing our will brings us something even better.

What may be even better for some is that I give Great Expectations a cautious recommendation.  There are some spicier moments than I like in it, but it has the right lessons.  In the end, the romantic in me will always appreciate it when the guy gets the girl, no matter how long it takes.  We are all on God’s time, anyway.