Overrated and overhyped

From my favorite movies..

The first must-see film of the year.

Through painfully honest and emotional moments, the movie becomes irresistibly relatable

I normally love period dramas, particularly those that enable me to "travel in time" to another time and place and experience, for a moment, what life was like in those times. I also like movies with an English/Scottish/Irish setting, so I looked forward to seeing this movie. Sadly, I was disappointed. I did not read the book this movie was based on, but based on reading the reviews here, I get the picture that the movie hardly resembled the book. Much of the plot did not make sense - this must have been the parts that the movie makers changed from the original. When plot does not make sense, the movie loses credibility. The performances were fine, but in general I felt that great talent had been wasted or not utilized to its potential. The movie features some really good actors who deliver good performances, but it's not enough to compensate for the inconsistencies in the storyline and what appear to be historical inaccuracies. The relatively happy ending is about all that was enjoyable about this movie.

Nothing like Defoe's book, this simply uses the character of Moll Flanders to create a completely different story - true, there is still the thieving and the prostitution, but that's where the similarities end.Robin Wright is a spirited Moll and is well supported by Morgan Freeman as a slave she meets on her travels who looks out for her from then on, and Stockard Channing as a scheming brothel madam. Aisling Corcoran plays Flora, the daughter Moll abandoned, and who she leaves her story to inform her of her origins.A little muddled, and no doubt a disappointment for those wishing to see an adaptation of the book (for this, see the excellent version with Alex Kingston made the same year), this 'Moll Flanders' nevertheless looks great and benefits from a great performance from Wright. Well worth a look.

Defoe's original novel, even after all these years, is funny, sad, entertaining and fast-moving. The film is basically only sad, with little resemblance to the novel. It is also dreadfully slow in parts. Some of the acting is good- Stockard Channing makes an excellent Madam, and Aisling Corcoran as the little girl is splendid, producing the few flashes of humour, and there are some very nice cameo parts from well-known British and Irish actors. However, Morgan Freeman (normally a very good actor) seems to have a rather variable accent and to be wondering how he got into this film (not quite Dick van Dyke in Mary Poppins, but...), and Robin Wright doesn't really convince me as a lower-class London girl. The costumes and settings give a good impression of what must have been a much less colourful world- particularly effective are the candle-lit indoor scenes. We get an interesting glimpse of the life and customs of late 17th-century/early 18th century England. However, there are some strange anachronisms- for instance, according to the novel, Moll was born in about 1614, but the clients at Mrs Allworthy's house seem to pay with bank-notes, which would have been extremely unusual at that time. Also I doubt that any little girl (even a feisty one like this) brought up in a Catholic orphanage would have used such strong language. This is nit-picking, I know, and it's only a film, but it's a pity that, with a bit more attention to the story-line and the script, the film could have been so much better.

This film is underrated. It has more to offer than noted. It focuses on life in a society where the "haves" lead an entirely different existence/reality than those who "have not. Though apparently dated somewhat earlier it is reminiscent of a Dickensian message. Like Dickens it endeavors to point out that not everybody fits a mold, yet in a society where humanist values are lacking, the selflessness of a few are not enough . The complaint that it is rather slow is apparently based on the fact that time was invested into character development. In that way it is more like a European film than a fast paced American production. Its not an action film and should not be judged in comparison with that genre. It would have been impossible to tell the story without the time invested in plot development. It was a revealing and visually beautiful story -- some lovely imagery - vignettes that linger for just long enough to communicate the portrayal of a classical painting - a momentary shift from film to traditional visual art. The film was multifaceted.