Moll Flanders (1996)

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

Colour:

Colour

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS | Dolby Digital | Stereo (QSound)

Certification:

Canada:14+ (Ontario) | Iceland:12 | 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:

Moll Flanders: I'm not going to fear any man of flesh and blood, no matter what costume he wears.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Film Geek (2005)

Soundtrack:

Moll's Prison Jig

A rather undelectable 18th century stew

The performances in this film are, for the most part, worthwhile. Robin Wright is radiant, Morgan Freeman solid, and Stockard Channing makes the most of her role, to the point that I think it was worthy of an Oscar nomination. (Why is this woman's craftsmanship so underrated? I'd like to know...) And I liked John Lynch as the artist. But there are some really dull stretches here that might have been helped with more secure, tighter writing. This was a colorful era -- and the costumes and settings in the film seem appropriate -- but the story is so bland that I found myself nodding off from time to time. -- The biggest puzzle to me is : Why call it "Moll Flanders" after Daniel Defoe's book/heroine, when the story is ABSOLUTELY NOTHING LIKE the book? Overall, a disappointment. There's some good meat in this stew, but, in the end, it makes for only so-so movie-watching...