Ethan Hawke and Gwyneth Paltrow on Awards Season and “High Expectations”
Ethan Hawke and Gwyneth Paltrow are currently in the spotlight for awards season, promoting their respective films—Hawke with a recent Oscar nomination for Best Actor in blue moon and Paltrow, who was nominated but did not win for Best Supporting Actress in Marty Supreme. The two recently sat down for an interview with Vanity Fair, where they reminisced about their sole collaboration in high expectations, a 1998 film that loosely adapts Charles Dickens’ novel. This film features a memorable moment where they share a kiss at a fountain—a kiss that was, perhaps more accurately, a lick, reflecting Paltrow’s sharp character. Directed by the acclaimed Alfonso Cuarón, the film came out after his earlier success with little princess and before he took on harry potter and the prisoner of azkaban and gravity.
Interestingly, despite the esteemed talent involved, high expectations didn’t get the kind of spotlight one might expect. It was released in late January, more like an average film than a major award contender amid the hype surrounding titanic. Other films released around that time included spice world and deep rising. The reception was, well, decent but not stellar—not many people consider it a major hit, and reviews varied. By the year’s end, Shakespeare in Love, which ultimately earned Paltrow her Oscar, outshined it. Yet Cuarón’s interpretation stands out on its own, separate from the awards chatter that brought it back to some attention.
Why Should You Watch High Expectations Tonight?
Finn, the character voiced by Hawke in the film’s opening, says, “I’m not going to tell this story as it happened. I’m going to tell it as I remember it.” This immediately sets the tone, indicating that the film is more of a reimagining than a direct adaptation of Dickens’ classic. In this retelling, Finn is renamed from Pip, and many characters find themselves moved from Victorian London to present-day Florida and New York. Miss Havisham morphs into Nora Dinsmoor, played by Anne Bancroft, while Estella retains her name and her role as Finn’s childhood love.
The story starts with young Finn helping an escaped convict, played by Robert De Niro, and later encountering Estella, whom Dinsmoor raises to break his heart out of spite. Some of the film’s most captivating moments arise during its early scenes, when Finn and Estella are still children, highlighting their playful yet complicated dynamic. Finn gazes at Estella, mirroring the affection of a helpless puppy. There’s a moment when she seems to reciprocate, albeit with a hint of aloofness, before vanishing unexpectedly.
As young adults, they reunite in New York, where Finn, aided by a mysterious benefactor, seeks to be an artist. This shift marks a noticeable departure from Dickens’ more populated and colorful narrative. While Cuarón’s film is rich in visual splendor—particularly greens—many characters feel less developed compared to the original story. Both Hawke and Paltrow show a youthful freshness in their performances. They seem slightly raw, with Hawke shedding his former “coolness” from earlier roles, and Paltrow stepping into a character that requires a blend of seduction and vulnerability.
One of the film’s standout scenes occurs when Estella visits Finn’s dimly lit apartment and asks him to paint her. This moment feels particularly charged and, well, coincidental given its timing against the massive success of titanic. Cuarón’s direction layers the scene with a sense of tension, skillfully masking some nudity behind Finn’s painting while keeping Estella tantalizingly out of focus. There’s this sense of restrained sexuality too, making the scene notably effective.
The movie does feel like it peaks well before the end, but as the story simplifies, there’s still much to appreciate, especially with strong performances from De Niro, Bancroft, and Chris Cooper. While critics back in the day may have frowned upon the modernization of Dickens’ intricate tales, time has offered a new perspective. Now, looking back at high expectations, it serves as a beautiful time capsule, capturing a moment in both the characters’ lives and the filmmaking landscape around them.
