Great Expectations - Review by Stu Coote
Director Mike Newell ( Four Weddings and a Funeral, Donnie Brasco and Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire ) drags Great Expectations back on to the big screen, resulting in yet another film which would have worked better as a television series. Charles Dickens’s classic tale has been adapted for film and television countless times, the most recent being the 2011 television series starring Ray Winstone and Gillian Anderson, which begs the question: did it needed to be done again so soon? Quite frankly, I don’t think it did. This attempt lacked both originality and ingenuity, serving up stock-standard period piece drama we’ve seen way too many times before. Great Expectations was a bowl of watery consommé when I wanted a hearty stew.