Moll Flanders (1996)

User Rating:

6.2/10   

Director:

Pen Densham

Writers (WGA):

Daniel Defoe (character from novel)
Pen Densham (screen story)

Release Date:

14 June 1996 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Romance

Tagline:

The remarkable story of one woman's unbreakable spirit.

Plot:

The daughter of a thief, young Moll is placed in the care of a nunnery after the execution of her mother...

Plot Keywords:

England | Epic | Britain | Flashback Sequence | Historical

Awards:

4 nominations

Cast

Robin Wright Penn	...	Moll Flanders (as Robin Wright)
Morgan Freeman	...	Hibble
Stockard Channing	...	Mrs. Allworthy
John Lynch	...	Artist
Brenda Fricker	...	Mrs. Mazzawatti
Geraldine James	...	Edna
Aisling Corcoran	...	Flora
Jim Sheridan	...	The Priest
Jeremy Brett	...	Artist's Father
Britta Smith	...	Artist's Mother
Cathy Murphy	...	Polly
Emma McIvor	...	Mary
Maria Doyle Kennedy	...	Alice
Ger Ryan	...	Orphanage Woman
Harry Towb	...	Magistrate

MPAA:

Rated PG-13 for violence, nudity and sex-related material

Runtime:

123 min | Germany:113 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS | Dolby Digital | Stereo (QSound)

Certification:

Iceland:12 | Canada:14+ (Ontario) | Australia:M | France:U | Portugal:M/12 | South Korea:18 | Spain:7 | USA:PG-13

Filming Locations:

Ardmore Studios - Herbert Road, Bray, County Wicklow, Ireland

Company:

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)

Quotes:

Mrs. Allworthy: Life's terrible short girl. Give yourself some pleasure. I'll bet you've never been kissed.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Film Geek (2005)

Soundtrack:

Moll's Prison Jig

A sentimental, but enjoyable movie.

When I watched "Moll Flanders", it was impossible not to cry... it's just one of those movies. A sweet and sad film, the title character was excellently played by Robin Wright. Some might find it overly emotional, but I found it very enjoyable in its tenderness.

My only displeasure with this movie is that it is not true to the story in Defoe's wonderful novel "Moll Flanders"; it is true to the novel only in the spirit of the character Moll Flanders. To say the movie was a loose interpretation is not adequate; it's much more of a new story using the old character of Moll Flanders.

Defoe's work has a different (and I find, more entertaining) style as well as a richer plot line. Mobil Masterpiece's presentation of "Moll Flanders" (with Alex Kingston in the title role) is much truer to the novel. I found it much more entertaining and much less sentimental. However, it doesn't have the gut-wrenching emotion of this "Moll Flanders". Each viewer will have to pick their own favorite.