Honestly, the 1998 movie Great Expectations shouldn't have worked. You’ve got a 19th-century British novel by Charles Dickens, a Mexican director who barely spoke English when he started in Hollywood, and a plot that moves Pip to modern-day Florida and New York. It sounds like a disaster on paper. Yet, here we are nearly thirty years later, and everyone is still talking about that green dress.
When people search for the Great Expectations movie Gwyneth Paltrow starred in, they aren't usually looking for a literary analysis of Dickens' themes on social class. They’re looking for a mood. They’re looking for that specific, humid, neon-green vibe that director Alfonso Cuarón and cinematographer Emmanuel "Chivo" Lubezki pumped into every single frame. It’s a movie that feels like a fever dream you had after falling asleep in a damp garden.
Why Gwyneth Paltrow was the Only Choice for Estella
Let’s be real about Estella. In the book, she’s cold. She’s a weapon designed by a heartbroken woman to destroy men. But in the Great Expectations movie Gwyneth Paltrow plays, Estella is something much more dangerous: she’s a girl you actually think you have a chance with.
Paltrow was at the height of her "Cool Girl" era. This was the same year she won an Oscar for Shakespeare in Love. She had this untouchable, ethereal quality that made Finn (played by a very scrappy, very earnest Ethan Hawke) look like a stray dog following a Ferrari.
What’s interesting is how Paltrow plays the "tease" aspect. It’s not just about being mean. It’s about that scene in Central Park where she’s smoking a cigarette, talking on a chunky 90s flip phone, and looking like she’s bored with the entire concept of existence. She isn't just a character; she's an aesthetic.
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The Secret Language of the Color Green
If you watch the movie closely—and I mean really closely—you’ll notice something weird. Everything is green. The walls, the water, the grass, the clothes, the lighting. Even the shadows have a mossy tint.
Cuarón and Lubezki (who later won three Oscars in a row for stuff like Gravity and The Revenant) used green to represent Finn’s obsession. It’s the color of envy, sure, but it’s also the color of "Paradiso Perduto," the decaying mansion where Finn first meets Estella.
- The Donna Karan Set: That Kelly green two-piece silk outfit Paltrow wears? It wasn't just a costume. It was from Donna Karan’s Spring 1996 collection.
- The Fountain Scene: When they’re kids and they drink from the fountain, the water is a murky, algae-ridden green.
- The New York Studio: Even when Finn becomes a big-shot artist, his paintings are drenched in—you guessed it—shades of forest and emerald.
The "Life in Mono" Factor
You can’t talk about the Great Expectations movie Gwyneth Paltrow carried without mentioning the soundtrack. Specifically, "Life in Mono" by the band Mono. It’s that trip-hop track that sounds like a haunted ballroom.
The soundtrack was a weirdly perfect mix. You had Chris Cornell, Tori Amos, and Iggy Pop rubbing shoulders with a lush, orchestral score by Patrick Doyle. Doyle actually wrote the music while battling leukemia, which might explain why the score feels so raw and urgent.
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The music does a lot of the heavy lifting that the script (written by Mitch Glazer) leaves out. It tells you exactly how much Finn is hurting, even when Ethan Hawke is just staring blankly at a canvas.
What Most People Get Wrong About the Ending
A lot of Dickens purists hate this movie. They hate that Pip is renamed "Finn." They hate that Miss Havisham is "Ms. Dinsmoor" (played with terrifying, campy brilliance by Anne Bancroft). But mostly, they hate the ending.
In the original book, the ending is ambiguous and kinda depressing. In the 1998 film, we get a sunset. We get a reconciliation. It feels like a Hollywood "happily ever after," but is it? If you look at Paltrow’s face in those final moments, she still looks a little bit hollow. She’s finally "free," but she’s also the product of decades of psychological grooming.
The Robert De Niro Cameo Nobody Remembers
Everyone remembers the romance, but Robert De Niro is in this movie! He plays Lustig (the Magwitch character), the escaped convict Finn helps at the beginning. De Niro is basically doing a dry run for some of his later, grittier roles. His performance is surprisingly moving, especially his final scene in the subway. It grounds the movie in a way that the "pretty" romance scenes don't.
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The Fashion Legacy (The Emma Stone Connection)
Just recently, Emma Stone was spotted in New York City wearing a vintage Donna Karan set that was a direct callback to Paltrow's Estella. It went viral instantly. Why? Because that look—the sleek, minimalist, "I don't care but I'm better than you" 90s style—never actually died.
It’s the "Clean Girl" aesthetic before TikTok existed.
Actionable Takeaways for Your Next Rewatch
If you’re going to revisit the Great Expectations movie Gwyneth Paltrow made iconic, do it with these things in mind to actually appreciate the craft:
- Look for the Green: Count how many scenes don't have the color green in them. (Hint: It’s almost zero).
- Listen to the Foley: The sound design is incredible. The sound of the wind in the overgrown gardens of Paradiso Perduto is meant to sound like whispering voices.
- Ignore the Dickens: Stop trying to compare it to the book. Treat it as a visual poem about being obsessed with someone who is bad for you.
- Watch Anne Bancroft: She is basically playing a Florida-gothic version of a silent film star. Her makeup is intentionally heavy and "cracked" to show the passage of time.
This movie wasn't a huge hit in 1998 because it came out right after Titanic. Nothing stood a chance against Leo and Kate. But while Titanic feels like a historical epic, Great Expectations feels like a memory. It’s messy, it’s overly sentimental, and it’s gorgeous to look at.
To get the most out of the experience, try to find the high-definition restoration. The 35mm film grain is essential to the "grimy but pretty" look that Chivo Lubezki pioneered here before he went on to change cinematography forever.