6. Great Expectations (1998)
Cuaron's first big Hollywood film, Great Expectations, a film based on the book by the same name by writing great Charles Dickens. The film starred big shots such as Robert De Niro, Gwyneth Paltrow, Ethan Hawke, Hank Azaria and Anne Bancroft. The film was a success, gaining both critical success as well as box office numbers, and while the movie was very enjoyable, the narrative laid for Cuaron once again didn't allow him to take the story in creative places. While Cuaron fiddled with the story slightly, placing it in a modern context in America, as opposed to Dicken's story which was set in the mid 1800's in Kent and London. The main character, an orphan named Pip played by Ethan Hawke, is also modernized from wanting to become a blacksmith to becoming a painter with Estella, played by Gwyneth Paltrow, still plays the object of Pop's affection. Cuaron's adaptation is a solid movie and the first half an hour has a good pace, with a brilliant introduction to Pip's life as an orphan growing up with his sister and her husband, also the introduction of Arthur Lustig, the convict that forces Pip to free him from his chains and bring him food. In fact, De Niro's performance as the crooked but generous Lustig is one of the highlights of the film, and his performance is one of the best, which Cuaron has an ability to do. While the films opening half an hour was fantastic, the pace seems to fall off, and by the end the film doesn't deliver on the promise it had at the start. Great Expectations is Cuaron's only film not receive a "fresh" rating on popular, and was panned by many critics as being dull and boring.