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Great Expectations

Great Expectations

Drama · Romance · 2012

Orphan Pip discovers through lawyer Mr. Jaggers that a mysterious benefactor wishes to ensure that he becomes a gentleman. Reunited with his childhood patron, Miss Havisham, and his first love, the beautiful but emotionally cold Estella, he discovers that the elderly spinster has gone mad from having been left at the altar as a young woman, and has made her charge into a warped, unfeeling heartbreaker.

Movie details

Great Expectations

“Prepare for a life of great expectations.”

2012 Drama · Romance 2h 8m

Critical arithmetic

The consensus, allegedly.

IMDb

6.3 / 10

14.2K votes

Rotten Tomatoes

70 %

Tomatometer

Metacritic

60 / 100

Metascore

TMDB

6.4 / 10

Community rating

External scores via OMDb · CC BY-NC 4.0. Values normalized for display; availability varies by title.

Orphan Pip discovers through lawyer Mr. Jaggers that a mysterious benefactor wishes to ensure that he becomes a gentleman. Reunited with his childhood patron, Miss Havisham, and his first love, the beautiful but emotionally cold Estella, he discovers that the elderly spinster has gone mad from having been left at the altar as a young woman, and has made her charge into a warped, unfeeling heartbreaker.

CriticWise case file

What this film says about your taste.

Not a recommendation score. A measure of how closely the film’s taste signals resemble yours.

The archetype split

Who fights over Great Expectations?

The split comes from the same five-axis model used by the test, not audience ratings or review sentiment.

Taste neighbourhood

Nearby on the taste map.

TMDB supplies the candidates. CriticWise reorders them by craft, strangeness, prestige, emotion, and pace.

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Great Expectations

Great Expectations

Drama · 1946

In this Dickens adaptation, orphan Pip discovers through lawyer Mr. Jaggers that a mysterious benefactor wishes to ensure that he becomes a gentleman. Reunited with his childhood patron, Miss Havisham, and his first love, the beautiful but emotionally cold Estella, he discovers that the elderly spinster has gone mad from having been left at the altar as a young woman, and has made her charge into a warped, unfeeling heartbreaker.

The Best of Me

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Where it lives

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Streaming availability data supplied by JustWatch.

Names above the title

The people responsible.

Directed by

Mike Newell

Written by

David Nicholls

Jeremy Irvine

Jeremy Irvine

Philip 'Pip' Pirrip

Helena Bonham Carter

Helena Bonham Carter

Miss Havisham

Ralph Fiennes

Ralph Fiennes

Abel Magwitch

Holliday Grainger

Holliday Grainger

Estella Havisham

Robbie Coltrane

Robbie Coltrane

Mr. Jaggers

Sally Hawkins

Sally Hawkins

Mrs. Joe

Jason Flemyng

Jason Flemyng

Joe Gargery

Court is in session

Put Great Expectations on trial.

Two incompatible taste archetypes. One film. Read the arguments, then issue a completely binding cultural ruling.

The defence The Sentimental Softie

“Sincerity is not manipulation.”

The film risks embarrassment to make emotion communal, and that openness is harder than fashionable detachment.

The prosecution The Cool Ironist

“The strings are showing.”

Every cue tells you exactly what to feel and when, leaving sentiment to do the work character should have done.