Great Expectations (1998 film)

Great Expectations is a 1998 contemporary film adaptation of the Charles Dickens novel of the same name, cowritten and directed by Alfonso Cuarn and starring Ethan Hawke, Gwyneth Paltrow, Robert De Niro, Anne Bancroft and Chris Cooper. It is known for having moved the setting of the original novel from 18121827 London to 1990s New York. The book was first published in 1861. The film is an abridged modernization of Dickenss novel, with the heros name having also been changed from Pip to Finn, and the character Miss Havisham has been renamed Nora Dinsmoor. The film received mixed reviews.

Finns uncle Joe Gargery is called to Paradiso Perduto lost paradise, home of the richest woman in Florida, Mrs. Nora Dinsmoor. She is a local mystery, having shunned virtually all human contact since she was left at the altar several years before. She ostensibly asks him there to do a gardening job, but instead she slips him a large sum of money under the door, calling it gas money. Meanwhile, Finn, who he brought along, meets Mrs. Dinsmoors young niece Estella in the overgrown garden. Mrs. Dinsmoor sees them interacting and calls Maggie Kim Dickens, Finns sister, to ask her to let Finn be a playmate for Estella, even though Estella apparently dislikes him.On Finns first visit, she is disappointed when the boy cannot dance for her, but is intrigued when he says he can draw. She forces Estella to sit for a portrait, which Finn draws with make up on an old piece of wallpaper. While he draws, Mrs. Dinsmoor warns Finn that he will fall in love with Estella and have his heart broken. After the portrait session, Mrs. Dinsmoor calls it a day and asks Estella to help Finn find the door. On the way out, she pauses to take a drink from a water fountain and politely offers him a drink from it as well. While Finn is drinking, Estella kisses him. ........

Source: Wikipedia